Simultaneous characterization of operando multi-material distribution via high-contrast correlative tomographic microscopy

Published

November 8, 2023

Author(s)

Pranay Shrestha, Jacob LaManna, Kieran Fahy, Pascal Kim, ChungHyuk Lee, Jason Lee, Elias Baltic, David Jacobson, Daniel Hussey, Aimy Bazylak

Abstract

High-contrast tomographic microscopy of evolving multi-material systems, such as electrochemical devices, offers a unique and often exclusive perspective into inner workings of these complex systems. Here, we characterize the operando spatiotemporal distribution of six interacting fuel cell components simultaneously in high contrast using a combination of dual-modality neutron and X-ray tomography (NeXT) and advanced image processing, achieving the highest reported pairwise contrast between these materials (average and median pairwise contrast-to-noise ratio of 9.5). Signal and contrast enhancements of up to 48 times and 10 times, respectively, are achieved when adopting the proposed methodology over single-modality imaging with conventional image processing. These drastic contrast enhancements reveal subtle variation in operando microstructural morphology of the catalyst coated membrane and liquid water distribution with respect to flow-field land-channel patterns in fuel cells. Such high-contrast NeXT imaging sets the stage for the establishment of a new gold-standard for operando tomographic characterization of electrochemical devices.

Citation

Nature Communications

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

neutron and X-ray tomography, operando imaging, iterative reconstruction, fuel cells, tomographic microscopy, multi-material characterization

Citation

Shrestha, P. , LaManna, J. , Fahy, K. , Kim, P. , Lee, C. , Lee, J. , Baltic, E. , Jacobson, D. , Hussey, D. and Bazylak, A. (2023), Simultaneous characterization of operando multi-material distribution via high-contrast correlative tomographic microscopy, Nature Communications, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=935631 (Accessed October 17, 2025)