X-ray reflectivity measurements of µm-sized electrode particles

X-ray reflectivity (XRR) nowadays is limited to model surfaces employing mm-sized samples. The extent of real surfaces in applications (e.g., Li-ion batteries), which need improved fundamental understanding, however, is several hundreds of nm to tens of µm. Towards this end, we demonstrated the feasibility of XRR in µm -sized model samples employing the nm-sized X-ray beams uniquely available at ID01 of ESRF-EBS. As a next step, we propose to extend our study to samples closer to application, namely spin-coated Al2O3 platelets coated with Au/Ti as a well-known system with clear Kiessig fringes to simulate the distribution of crystallites in electrodes, and real NMC electrode crystallites spin coated in a similar way. This will help to ultimately use nm-beam XRR for in situ experiments utilizing the high-intensity nm-beams at ESRF-EBS.