Electrochemically-correlated measurement of electronic transport in battery nanoelectrodes using single nanowire devices

In order to achieve electrochemical cycling at high rates for batteries with improved power densities, battery electrodes need to support the efficient insertion / extraction of both, electrons and intercalation ions within their constituent material systems. This paper presents an on-chip, single nanowire electrochemical device for measuring the electrical properties of a battery nanoelectrode as a function of its electrochemical state of charge (SOC). These measurements are performed on alpha-phase manganese oxide nanowires, which present crystalline tunnels along their longitudinal axis for ionic intercalation. Our results show a degradation in the electrical conductance of nanowire electrodes as the amount of lithium loading is increased and points to the need for optimizing crystal structures so that the electrical transport property of the host material is not degraded during electrochemical intercalation.