Nonequilibrium Pathways during Electrochemical Phase Transformations in Single Crystals Revealed by Dynamic Chemical Imaging at Nanoscale Resolution

Redox reactions provide an opportunity to convert or store energy to power our increasingly technological society. In turn, phase transformations in solids and their reversibility are key to many functionalities. [ 1–4 ] This reversibility is typically linked to the specifi c mechanism, which, in turn, can be affected by kinetic limitations, such as those imposed by solid-state transport. An extreme example is the need to move electrons and ions within the structure of a battery electrode active material. [ 4 ]