Cracking in polycrystalline cathode materials has been considered detrimental to cell performance as it exposes fresh surfaces to electrolyte, reduces effective ionic and electronic conduction pathways, and can facilitate the formation of inactive regions over time. Cracking has traditionally been attributed to unit cell anisotropic volumetric hysteresis after extended cycling, as studies often observe cracking in discharged materials typically after many cycles. However, recent findings suggest that high voltages in the first cycle can also induce immediate intergranular cracking, initiating degradation pathways before ageing begins. This phenomenon may reduce early cycle performance by exposing fresh surfaces to parasitic reactions with the electrolyte, however, first cycle losses are generally attributed to solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on the graphite anode, and therefore cracking present in early cycles may not be catastrophic to cell performance initially. Additionally, oxygen release can coincide with crystallographic reconstruction into an inactive reduced surface layer, and eventually a rock-salt (Fm3 " m) phase. Cracking is a complex mechanism, with the extent of cracking influenced by a variety of factors including: particle size, temperature, C-rate, electrolyte composition, and cycle number. Therefore, to visualise these defects for quantification, advanced imaging techniques such as cross sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been used after ageing. Additionally, X-ray computed tomography of raw NMC622 and 811 powders showed there was some cracking and void formation before being fabricated into printed electrodes, and once fabricated, additional defects can be seen to be introduced into the secondary agglomerates, presumably due to the pressure exerted during calendaring. As well as physical experiments, a plethora of literature is devoted to modelling defects and fracture present in prominent battery materials. The literature reports a myriad of electrochemically induced fracture behaviours that present themselves in NMC, and especially NMC811 where large anisotropic crystallographic volume changes throughout cycling promotes heterogenous mechanical forces within the secondary agglomerates. It has also been reported that the continual crystal volume hysteresis will cause fatigue in the NMC lattice structure, sequestering parts of the material and reducing overall cell performance. However, cracking has more recently been reported to be severe even in the first cycle, and therefore a more careful study into the effects of early cycle cracking phenomena on the longevity of the battery must be considered. To understand cracking in NMC811 some experiments have used electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to quantify cracking by detecting increased surface area. To observe structural defects in NMC, the use X-ray techniques has dominated characterisation efforts; in particular, operando diffraction in NMC811 and 3D characterisation of larger defects by X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT). This work builds upon previous XCT efforts and introduces advanced in situ tomography methods to enable direct observation of voltage-mediated particle fracturing on the same particles during charge and discharge, testing the hypothesis that cracks form early during charging and partially close upon discharge. Previously, imaging particles in their discharged state is likely to miss this effect, leading to the conclusion that minimal cracking occurs during initial cycles. However, recent studies suggest that electrochemically induced cracking can occur as early as the first cycle. These works, whilst informative, either do not register the initial condition of the particles, or the particle as at risk of being pre-damaged by the imaging method (in this particular case, damage caused by focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM)) and therefore does not constitute a typical cathode active material environment. As with all operando techniques, matching the real working environment as closely as possible during measurement is paramount for reliable insight from the characterisation method.