Owing to widespread availability, the most extensively adopted tomography technique utilizes the milling power of a focused ion beam (FIB) in conjunction with the imaging capabilities of high resolution FE-SEM, to provide a sequence of 2D images that can be effectively re-combined in 3D space. However, because this technique is destructive, studies of microstructural evolution are influenced by inherent sample variability. Non-destructive X-ray nano-computed tomography (CT) [9–11] provides a platform for exploring dynamic microstructural change in the absence of these possible complications and is compatible with both laboratory and synchrotron radiation. The authors have previously demonstrated a technique for preparation of optimal sample geometries for X-ray nano-CT [12], while this FIB sample preparation route will involve the selective removal of portions of the fuel cell electrode microstructure (and therefore may be destructive to the working fuel cell), the non-destructive X-ray characterization technique allows repeated, non-destructive characterization of the selected sample which facilitates the study of microstructural evolution processes in response to various environmental changes.
