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Real‐time Observation of Deep Lithiation of Tungsten Oxide Nanowires by In Situ Electron Microscopy
Author(s) -
Qi Kuo,
Wei Jiake,
Sun Muhua,
Huang Qianming,
Li Xiaomin,
Xu Zhi,
Wang Wenlong,
Bai Xuedong
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201508112
Subject(s) - tungsten , nanowire , materials science , transmission electron microscopy , amorphous solid , electrochemistry , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , oxide , crystallography , chemistry , metallurgy , electrode , engineering
Abstract An in‐depth mechanistic understanding of the electrochemical lithiation process of tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) is both of fundamental interest and relevant for potential applications. One of the most important features of WO 3 lithiation is the formation of the chemically flexible, nonstoichiometric Li x WO 3 , known as tungsten bronze. Herein, we achieved the real‐time observation of the deep electrochemical lithiation process of single‐crystal WO 3 nanowires by constructing in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) electrochemical cells. As revealed by nanoscale imaging, diffraction, and spectroscopy, it is shown that the rapid and deep lithiation of WO 3 nanowires leads to the formation of highly disordered and near‐amorphous Li x WO 3 phases, but with no detectable traces of elemental W and segregated Li 2 O phase formation. These results highlight the remarkable chemical and structural flexibility of the Li x WO 3 phases in accommodating the rapid and deep lithiation reaction.