Thermodynamic antics: A look at why lithium battery cathodes fail and how to stop it

Understanding why lithium-ion batteries fail helps researchers develop solutions to improve device performance. In a recent study, researchers led by ACerS Fellow Ricardo Castro showed that failure can be induced by stress resulting from surface energy oscillations at the cathode during cycling—but this oscillation can be inhibited through surface engineering design.

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Trifecta of ductility: Third perovskite oxide confirmed to exhibit room-temperature bulk plasticity

To date, room-temperature bulk plasticity in ceramics has mostly been observed in alkali halide crystals or simple oxides with rock-salt structure, which find limited application in modern electronic devices. In the past 20 years, two perovskite oxides were discovered to exhibit room-temperate bulk plasticity, and now researchers report a third perovskite oxide with this property.

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