Battery knowledge · Materials analysis and post-mortem

Inductively coupled plasma spectrometry

Dissolving a sample in acid, spraying it into an argon plasma of several thousand kelvin and measuring each element by the light it emits (OES) or by ion mass (MS). It is the reference method for cathode stoichiometry, lithium content, black-mass assays and the traces of dissolved transition metals on aged anodes, down to parts per billion.

Abbreviation
ICP
Also called
ICP-OES, ICP-AES, ICP-MS

Example

Materials analysis and post-mortem: an example situation

Surface and bulk measurements may find different compositions in the same electrode without contradiction.

Read Inductively coupled plasma spectrometry alongside Black mass in this context. The dark powder of mixed electrode materials left after end-of-life cells are discharged, shredded and separated from their casings, foils and separators. It is the traded intermediate that hydrometallurgical refiners buy.

Use in Lemonergy

Connect results with scale and specimen preparation.

This is a reference concept. No executable Lemonergy block has been verified for this term.

References & further reading

Further reading on this topic

These sources provide broader context; they are not presented as citations for every statement in this entry.

  1. Advanced characterization techniques for solid state lithium battery research

    Yuxuan Xiang, Xia Li, Yongqiang Cheng, Xueliang Sun, Yong Yang · Materials Today · 2020

    Topic background · X-ray, solid-state NMR and neutron methods in solid-state battery research.