Dual‐IR Window/Electrode Operando Attenuated Total Reflection‐IR Absorption Spectroscopy for Battery Research

We report a novel dual‐IR window/electrode operando infrared (IR) spectroscopy method for battery research. In addition to keeping all the features of the in‐situ/operando IR spectroscopic methodologies for batteries reported in the literature so far, the dual‐IR window/electrode configuration reported herein offers a unique advantage of accessing both, anode and cathode processes quasi‐simultaneously by rotating the dual‐window/electrode IR battery cell 180° step‐wise in the same operando real‐battery‐like cell. The proof‐of‐concept studies demonstrated clearly its investigative advantages in gaining broader insights into the chemistry of batteries during charging/discharging and beyond. It takes two to tango! A dual‐window/electrode operando total‐attenuate‐reflection IR spectroscopic method is developed. The unique investigative power of the method is to unravel the chemical reactions involved in the formation and affecting the stability of the solid‐electrolyte interphase of both, anode and cathode quasi simultaneously. The method is used to investigate a graphite‐LiCoO2 Li‐ion cell in working battery like configuration.