A Beginner’s Guide to Cryo-EM for Battery Research

Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has shown great promise in preserving and characterizing beam-sensitive battery materials and interfaces at atomic resolution. With the growing interest in adopting cryo-EM for battery research, this review provides detailed and practical guidance for researchers on cryo-EM workflows including sample preparation and transfer, imaging, data acquisition, and analysis. Strategies for minimizing artifacts during sample preparation and imaging processes are discussed along with approaches to address potential pitfalls in data analysis to ensure accurate interpretation. Finally, this review explores the challenges and opportunities for advancing the cryo-EM technique to further enhance its impact on future developments in battery research.