This review highlights the use of the X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) as a local structural tool for selected atoms in several host materials. The main characteristics of XAS to be element-sensitive and its applicability to all states of matter, including crystalline solids and amorphous and liquid states, permit an in-depth study of the structural properties of a large variety of materials. This includes intercalation materials where a host structure can accommodate guest species. Host guest equilibria are at the basis of a large variety of technological applications; in particular they have been used for energy storage, ion-exchange membranes, electrochromism, and analytical sensing. A selection of XAS experiments conducted in the field of batteries, mainly on cathodes, and applications in the field of metal hexacyanoferrates and double layered hydroxides are outlined.
Insight into the Activity and Selectivity of Nanostructured Copper Titanates during Electrochemical Conversion of CO2 at Neutral pH via In Situ X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy