Welcome to the Amira-Avizo Software Use Case Gallery

Below you will find a collection of use cases of our 3D data visualization and analysis software. These use cases include scientific publications, articles, papers, posters, presentations or even videos that show how Amira-Avizo Software is used to address various scientific and industrial research topics.

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Investigation of Hot Pressed Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Assemblies via X-ray Computed Tomography

Investigation of Hot Pressed Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Assemblies via X-ray Computed Tomography

The hot pressing process for fabricating membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) has been widely adopted, yet little is known of its effects on the microstructural properties of the different components of the MEA. In particular, the interaction of the electrolyte, electrode and gas diffusion layer (GDL) due to lamination is difficult to probe as conventional imaging techniques cannot access the internal structure of the MEA. Here, a novel approach is used, which combines characterisation of hot... Read more

Q. Meyer, N. Mansor, F. Iacoviello, P.L. Cullen, R. Jervis, D. Finegan, C. Tan, J. Bailey, P. R. Shearing, D. J. L. Brett

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Impact of Pore Tortuosity on Electrode Kinetics in Lithium Battery Electrodes: Study in Directionally Freeze-Cast LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA)

Impact of Pore Tortuosity on Electrode Kinetics in Lithium Battery Electrodes: Study in Directionally Freeze-Cast LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA)

The prevailing electrode fabrication method for lithium-ion battery electrodes includes calendering at high pressures to densify the electrode and promote adhesion to the metal current collector.

However, this process increases the tortuosity of the pore network in the primary transport direction and imposes severe tradeoffs between electrode thickness and rate capability. With the aim of understanding the impact of pore tortuosity on electrode kinetics, and enabling cell designs with ... Read more

Benjamin Delattre, Ruhul Amin, Jonathan Sander, Joël De Coninck, Antoni P. Tomsia and Yet-Ming Chiang

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Investigation of cycling-induced microstructural degradation in silicon-based electrodes in lithium-ion batteries using X-ray nanotomography

Investigation of cycling-induced microstructural degradation in silicon-based electrodes in lithium-ion batteries using X-ray nanotomography

The microstructural degradation of a composite silicon electrode at different stages in its cycle life was investigated in 3D using X-ray nano-computed tomography. A reconstructed volume of 36 μm × 27 μm × 26 μm from the composite electrode was imaged in its pristine state and after 1, 10 and 100 cycles. Particle fracturing and phase transformation was observed within the electrode with increased cycling. In addition, a distinct, lower X-ray attenuating phase was clearly resolved,... Read more

Oluwadamilola O. Taiwo, Melanie Loveridge, Shane D.Beattie, Donal P.Finegan, Rohit Bhagat, Daniel J.L.Brett, Paul R.Shearing

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Multiscale tomographic analysis of the thermal failure of Na-Ion batteries

Multiscale tomographic analysis of the thermal failure of Na-Ion batteries

In recent years, the ability to examine the processes that cause the catastrophic failure of batteries as a result of thermal runaway has improved substantially. In this work, the effect of thermal runaway on the microstructure of the electrodes of a Na-ion battery is examined using X-ray computed tomography for the first time. The thermal failure induced via accelerating rate calorimetry enabled the examination of failed electrodes, which were subsequently compared with fresh s... Read more

Robinson, J. B., Heenan, T. M. M., Jervis, J. R., Tan, C., Kendrick, E., Brett, D. J. L., & Shearing, P. R.

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In situ compression and X-ray computed tomography of flow battery electrodes

In situ compression and X-ray computed tomography of flow battery electrodes

Redox flow batteries offer a potential solution to an increase in renewable energy generation on the grid by offering long-term, large-scale storage and regulation of power. However, they are currently underutilised due to cost and performance issues, many of which are linked to the microstructure of the porous carbon electrodes used. Here, for the first time, we offer a detailed study of the in situ effects of compression on a commercially available carbon felt electrode. Visualisation ... Read more

Rhodri Jervis , Matt D.R. Kok , Tobias P. Neville , Quentin Meyer , Leon D. Brown , Francesco Iacoviello , Jeff T. Gostick , Dan J.L. Brett , Paul R. Shearing

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A three-dimensional heterogeneity analysis of electrochemical energy conversion in SOFC anodes using electron nanotomography and mathematical modeling

A three-dimensional heterogeneity analysis of electrochemical energy conversion in SOFC anodes using electron nanotomography and mathematical modeling

In this paper a fully three dimensional, multiphase, micro-scale solid oxide fuel cellanode transport phenomena numerical model is proposed and verified. The Butler-Volmer model was combined with empirical relations for conductivity and diffusivity – notably the Fuller-Shetler-Giddings equation, and the Fickian modelfor transport of gas reagents. FIB-SEM tomography of a commercial SOFC stack anode was performed and the resulting images were processed to acquire input data. ... Read more

Tomasz A. Prokop, Katarzyna Berent, Hiroshi Iwai, Janusz S.Szmyd, Grzegorz Brus

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Mesoscale characterization of local property distributions in heterogeneous electrodes

Mesoscale characterization of local property distributions in heterogeneous electrodes

The performance of electrochemical devices depends on the three-dimensional (3D) distributions of microstructural features in their electrodes. Several mature methods exist to characterize 3D microstructures over the microscale (tens of microns), which are useful in understanding homogeneous electrodes. However, methods that capture mesoscale (hundreds of microns) volumes at appropriate resolution (tens of nm) are lacking, though they are needed to understand more common, less ideal electrode... Read more

Tim Hsu, William K. Epting, Rubayyat Mahbub, Noel T. Nuhfer, Sudip Bhattachary, Yinkai Lei, Herbert M. Miller, Paul R. Ohodnicki, Kirk R. Gerdes, Harry W. Abernathy, Gregory A. Hackett, Anthony D. Rollett, Marc De Graef, Shawn Litster, Paul A. Salvador

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Operando Visualization and Multi-scale Tomography Studies of Dendrite Formation and Dissolution in Zinc Batteries

Operando Visualization and Multi-scale Tomography Studies of Dendrite Formation and Dissolution in Zinc Batteries

Alternative battery technologies are required to meet growing energy demands and address the limitations of present technologies. As such, it is necessary to look beyond lithium-ion batteries. Zinc batteries enable high power density while being sourced from ubiquitous and cost-effective materials. This paper presents, for the first time known to the authors, multi-length scale tomography studies of failure mechanisms in zinc batteries with and without commercial microporous separators. In bo... Read more

Vladimir Yufit, Farid Tariq David S. Eastwood Moshiel Biton Billy Wu Peter D. Lee Nigel P. Brandon

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Porous Metal–Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Performance Silicon Anodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries

Porous Metal–Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Performance Silicon Anodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries

Maintaining the physical integrity of electrode microstructures in Li-ion batteries is critical to significantly extend their cycle life. This is especially important for high-capacity anode materials such as silicon, whose operational volume expansion exerts huge internal stress within the anode, resulting in electrode destruction and capacity fade. In this study, we demonstrate that by incorporating metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with carboxylate organic linkers into Si-based anodes, a s... Read more

Romeo Malik, Melanie. J. Loveridge, Luke J. Williams, Qianye Huang, Geoff West, Paul R. Shearing, Rohit Bhagat, Richard I. Walton

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Nanoscale state-of-charge heterogeneities within polycrystalline nickel-rich layered oxide cathode materials

Nanoscale state-of-charge heterogeneities within polycrystalline nickel-rich layered oxide cathode materials

Nickel-rich transition metal oxide materials […] are of great interest for achieving immediate improvements in the energy density of Li-ion batteries and for risk reduction within the Li-ion battery supply chain.
[…] An increase in Ni content in NMC materials leads to accelerated degradation […]. This potentially complicates their adoption in applications requiring extended cycle life such as in electric vehicles.

Recent developments in X-ray characterization to... Read more

ChunTan, Andrew S.Leach, Thomas M.M. Heenan, Huw Parks, Rhodri Jervis, Johanna Nelson Weker, Daniel J.L. Brett, Paul R.Shearing

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Thermal Runaway of a Li-Ion Battery Studied by Combined ARC and Multi-Length Scale X-ray CT

Thermal Runaway of a Li-Ion Battery Studied by Combined ARC and Multi-Length Scale X-ray CT

Lithium ion battery failure occurs across multiple length scales. In this work, the properties of thermal failure and its effects on electrode materials were investigated in a commercial battery using a combination of accelerating rate calorimetry (ARC) and multi-length scale X-ray computed tomography (CT). ARC measured the heat dissipated from the cell during thermal runaway and enabled the identification of key thermal failure characteristics such as onset temperature and the rate of heat g... Read more

Drasti Patel, James B. Robinson, Sarah Ball, Daniel J. L. Brett and Paul R. Shearing

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X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells: What is the Representative Elementary Area?

X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells: What is the Representative Elementary Area?

With the growing use of X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) datasets for modelling of transport properties, comes the need to define the representative elementary volume (REV) if considering three dimensions or the representative elementary area (REA) if considering two dimensions. The resolution used for imaging must be suited to the features of interest in the sample and the region-of-interest must be sufficiently large to capture key information. Polymer electrolyte fuel cells have a hier... Read more

Jennifer Hack et al 2020 J. Electrochem.

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An Anisotropic Microstructure Evolution in a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode

An Anisotropic Microstructure Evolution in a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode

A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is an electrochemical device that converts the chemical energy of hydrogen directly into electricity. A single cell usually has a form of a flat plate in which an impervious and dense ion-conducting electrolyte is sandwiched between two porous catalytic electrodes: an anode and a cathode. Fuel is fed to the anode side, and the air is supplied to the cathode. The gasses cannot mix to avoid unproductive combustion. Instead, gasses hit catalyst material, lose their... Read more

Grzegorz Brus, Hiroshi Iwai, Janusz S. Szmyd

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Three-dimensional image based modelling of transport parameters in lithium–sulfur batteries

Three-dimensional image based modelling of transport parameters in lithium–sulfur batteries

An elemental sulfur electrode was imaged with X-ray micro and nano computed tomography and segmented into its constituent phases. Morphological parameters including phase fractions and pore and particle size distributions were calculated directly from labelled image data, and flux based simulations were performed to determine the effective molecular diffusivity of the pore phase and electrical conductivity of the conductive carbon and binder phase, D... Read more

Chun Tan, Matthew D. R. Kok , Sohrab R. Daemi , Daniel J. L. Brett and Paul R. Shearing

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Evaluating microstructure evolution in an SOFC electrode using digital volume correlation

Evaluating microstructure evolution in an SOFC electrode using digital volume correlation

Degradation mechanisms within solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) during thermal cycling limit operational start-up times and cell lifetime, and must therefore be better understood and mitigated. This work explores such mechanisms using digital volume correlation (DVC) techniques applied to lab-based X-ray tomograms where the microstructural evolution is evaluated during the operational cycling of a Ni–YSZ/YSZ cell. To emulate reduced start-up times, five tomograms were collected over four operat... Read more

T. M. M. Heenan, X. Lu,, D. P. Finegan,, J. Robinson, F. Iacoviello, J. J. Bailey, D. J. L. Brett and P. R. Shearing

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4D visualisation of in situ nano-compression of Li-ion cathode materials to mimic early stage calendering

4D visualisation of in situ nano-compression of Li-ion cathode materials to mimic early stage calendering

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries operate via electrochemical reactions between positive and negative electrodes, formed by complex porous microstructures. An improved understanding of these materials can lead to a greater insight into the link between microscopic electrode morphology and macroscopic performance. The practice of calendering electrodes after manufacturing has been widely used to increase the volumetric energy density and improve the electrical contact between electrode... Read more

S. R. Daemi,X. Lu, D. Sykes, J. Behnsen, C. Tan, A. Palacios-Padros, J. Cookson, E. Petrucco, P. J. Withers, D. J. L. Brett and P. R. Shearing

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A novel approach for the quantification of inhomogeneous 3D current distribution in fuel cell electrodes

A novel approach for the quantification of inhomogeneous 3D current distribution in fuel cell electrodes

The electrode microstructural properties significantly influence the efficiency and durability of many electrochemical devices including solid oxide fuel cells. Despite the possibility of simulating the electrochemical phenomena within real three-dimensional microstructures, the potential of such 3D microstructural information has not yet been fully exploited. We introduce here a completely new methodology for the advanced characterization of inhomogeneous current distribution base... Read more

A.Bertei, V.Yufit, F.Tariq, N.P.Brandon

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The use of contrast enhancement techniques in X-ray imaging of lithium–ion battery electrodes

The use of contrast enhancement techniques in X-ray imaging of lithium–ion battery electrodes

Understanding the microstructural morphology of Li–ion battery electrodes is crucial to improving the electrochemical performance of current Li–ion battery systems and in developing next-generation power systems. The use of 3D X-ray imaging techniques, which are continuously evolving, provides a noninvasive platform to study the relationship between electrode microstructure and performance at various time and length scales. In addition to characterizing a weakly (X-ray) absorbing graphite... Read more

Oluwadamilola O. Taiwo , Donal P. Finegan , Jeff Gelb , Christian Holzner , Daniel J.L. Brett , Paul R. Shearing

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Visualizing the Carbon Binder Phase of Battery Electrodes in Three Dimensions

Visualizing the Carbon Binder Phase of Battery Electrodes in Three Dimensions

This study presents a technique to directly characterize the carbon and binder domain (CBD) in lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery electrodes in three dimensions and use it to determine the effective transport properties of a LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2 (NMC) electrode. X-ray nanocomputed tomography (nano-CT) is used to image an electrode composed solely of carbon and binder, whereas focused ion beam–scanning electron microscopy is used to analyze cross-sect... Read more

Sohrab R. Daemi, Chun Tan, Tobias Volkenandt, Samuel J. Cooper, Anna Palacios-Padros, James Cookson, Dan J. L. Brett, and Paul R. Shearing

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Spatially resolved ultrasound diagnostics of Li-ion battery electrodes

Spatially resolved ultrasound diagnostics of Li-ion battery electrodes

The importance of reliable battery diagnostic systems has grown substantially in recent years as a result of the use of high power Li-ion battery packs in an increasingly diverse range of applications. Here, spatially resolved ultrasound acoustic measurements are used to analyse the condition of Li-ion electrodes. Ultrasonic measurements are performed on a commercial mobile phone battery over the full operating voltage window with the lithiation and delithiation of electrodes o... Read more

James B. Robinson, Maximilian Maier , George Alster , Tomos Compton , Dan J. L. Brett and Paul R. Shearing

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Correlation between triple phase boundary and the microstructure of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell anodes

Correlation between triple phase boundary and the microstructure of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell anodes

This study aims to correlate the active triple phase boundaries (TPBs) to the variation of as-prepared anode microstructures and Ni densifications based on the reconstructed 3D volume of an SOFC anode, providing a point of comparison with theoretical studies that reveal the relationship of TPBs and the material microstructure using randomly packed spheres models.

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Xuekun Lu, Thomas M.M. Heenan, Josh J. Bailey, Tao Li, Kang Li, Daniel J.L. Brett, Paul R. Shearing, Electrochemical Innovation Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, London

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