Although imaging the ME-cell using lab-based X-ray instruments provided valuable insight to CCM degradation with considerable convenience, conducting an operando μ-CT study using labbased X-ray instruments has some limitations. Most importantly, the temporal resolution is limited by the low X-ray flux available from lab-based instruments. Each scan performed with our lab-based source in this study took ≈ 4.5 h to acquire, compared with 4 min using synchrotron radiation at the I13-2 beamline at Diamond Light Source. It is important for the system to be stable during each scan; the scan time must therefore be short relative to the time for noticeable changes to occur. For this operando study of unstable AEM systems, scan times on the order of minutes were essential for the cell to be relatively unchanged during each scan.