Understanding how trace elements are distributed within battery materials is becoming increasingly important for improving performance, lifetime, and safety of modern batteries. Even very small concentrations of metallic impurities or their redistribution during cycling can strongly influence degradation processes, interfacial stability, and long-term reliability. However, characterizing these effects remains analytically challenging, particularly in solid materials and layered structures.
In this presentation, we introduce the Thermo Scientific™ Element GD Plus™ Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometer (GD-MS) and demonstrate how it can be used as a powerful and straightforward tool for elemental analysis of battery materials in the solid state. GD-MS is a direct solid-sampling technique that removes material from the sample surface by a low-energy glow discharge and measures the elemental composition with a high-resolution mass spectrometer. This approach eliminates the need for chemical digestion and enables fast, multi-element analysis with extremely low detection limits.
The Element GD Plus GD-MS can analyse nearly all elements of the periodic table in conductive materials, and many non-conductive materials using dedicated sample configurations. Typical sample types relevant to battery research include metal foils and current collectors (Cu, Al), cathode materials (Si-O), anode materials (graphite), electrode coatings, pressed powders, sintered materials, and layered structures. Concentrations ranging from trace (ppm) to ultra trace elements (ppb to sub-ppb) can be measured in a single analysis, even in complex matrices with precisions between 1 % and 10 % RSD. Elements such as Li, Na, Mg, Al, transition metals (Fe, Ni, Co, Mn, Cu), dopants, and critical trace contaminants can be detected with high sensitivity and minimal spectral interference. A high sample throughput of four to five samples per hour is achieved.
A particular strength of GD-MS is its ability to perform quantitative depth profiling, with depth resolution ranging from nanometers to hundreds of micrometers. This makes it possible to directly study elemental gradients, diffusion processes, and interfacial layers without complex sample preparation. In the context of batteries, this capability can be applied to investigate metal diffusion between current collectors and electrodes, impurity segregation at interfaces, coating homogeneity, and changes induced by aging or cycling. Such information is highly relevant for understanding degradation mechanisms, failure modes, and lifetime limitations.
The presentation will illustrate how GD-MS can complement established battery characterization techniques by providing fast, robust, and highly sensitive elemental information directly in solids. By combining bulk analysis with depth-resolved measurements, the Element GD Plus GD-MS offers new insights into how trace elements and their redistribution influence battery performance and long-term stability.