Diffusion of Lithium in Thin Copper Measured by Neutron Depth Profiling

• Published in: Journal of physical chemistry. C 2020-11, Vol.124 (47), p.25748-25753
• Main Authors: Ceccio, Giovanni, Cannavó, Antonino, Vacik, Jiri, Horak, Pavel, Hnatowicz, Vladimir, Tomandl, Ivo, Lavrentiev, Vasyl
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: C: Energy Conversion and Storage; Energy and Charge Transport
• ISSN: 1932-7447; 1932-7455
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c08167

The diffusion of lithium in copper was measured in thin Cu/Li/Cu multilayer systems with a narrow Li slab sandwiched between two copper coating layers. The measurement was performed using a nondestructive neutron depth profiling (NDP) technique installed at the LWR-15 research reactor in Řež. The diffusion coefficients have been obtained for different annealing temperatures between 100 and 500 °C: 4.6 × 10–17 cm2/s for 100 °C, 4.2 × 10–17 cm2/s for 200 °C, 8.9 × 10–17 cm2/s for 300 °C, and 2.06 × 10–15 cm2/s for 500 °C. The NDP technique makes it possible to advantageously determine the diffusion parameters directly on the basis of measuring the Li depth profiles. The measurement of Li diffusion is important not only for a better understanding of the diffusion mechanism of Li in solids but also for relevant technological applications, such as the efficient generation of Li ions for radioactive ion beams (RIB) in isotope separation online (ISOL) facilities, or for monitoring of Li-ion migration in active lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).