Structural, chemical and electronic characterization of energy materials by electron microscopy and spectroscopy techniques  M.S. Moreno Centro Atómico Bariloche, 8400 - San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina smoreno@cab.cnea.gov.ar   The realization of better and more efficient batteries is strongly related to development and improvement of materials and its characterization. The three major capacity-limiting issues of Li-air batteries, passivation, pore blockage, and O2 transport limitations could be tackled by an appropriate nanostructuring of the air electrode. The realization of materials at the nanometer scale have become a routine process in many scientific disciplines. Manipulation of matter at the nanometer scale creates a new challenge for materials characterization and also for modelling their properties. The use of nanostructured materials and, for example, the formation of a solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI), requires the use of characterization techniques that can achieve high spatial resolution and also sensitivity to light elements like Li. Characterization of nanostructured objects by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques has become a conventional method because it provides the high spatial resolution required. The availabiblity of a spectroscopy like Electron Energy-Loss (EELS) in the TEM allows both chemical and electronic characterization through the unoccupied density of states, both with high spatial and high energy resolution similar to that achieved with synchrotron light sources. The EELS spectra can also be modelled with high accuracy allowing for the understanding of the electronic structure and its evolution. This spectroscopy also provides elemental maps which shows the spatial distribution of the elements present in the samples. In this contribution I shall provide examples of the use of these techniques [1]. [1] F. Wang, J. Graetz, M.S. Moreno, C. Ma, L. Wu, V. Volkov and Y., ACS Nano 5, 1190-1197 (2011). < volver