In situ concentration cartography in the neighborhood of dendrites growing in lithium/polymer-electrolyte/lithium cells

We report on three different in situ and ex situ concentration measurement methods in symmetric lithium/polymer-electrolyte/lithium cells. We examine our results on the basis of a simple calculation of ionic concentration within the electrolyte; in the case where no dendrite is observed, this calculation accounts quantitatively for all experimental results. In the case of dendritic growth, we can measure the concentration distribution around the dendrites; this permits correlation of the active parts of the electrodes and of the growing dendrites with local ionic depletion in the vicinity of these active parts. (C) 1999 The Electrochemical Society. S0013-4651(99)04-039-2. All rights reserved.