Solid-state Li-ion batteries promise safety, longer life
Most of today’s Li-ion batteries use a liquid organic electrolyte, the key component of a battery that separates the terminals and that allows the flow of electrical charge between them. The researchers’ proposed solid electrolyte approach addresses two of the key limitations of current liquid electrolytes – their overheating and flammability, and limited electrochemical stability.
Instead, say the researchers, they have found the desirable structural attributes of solid-state Li-ion conductors that could be used to replace current organic electrolytes. Specifically, they found that "an underlying body-centered cubic-like anion framework" was most desirable for achieving high ionic conductivity, and was available in a class of materials known as superionic lithium-ion conductors, with more research likely to yield even more effective materials.
Until now, it was thought that solid materials could not be used in batteries as they didn’t conduct quickly enough. "That paradigm has been overthrown," says Gerbrand Ceder, one of the researchers.
In addition to being safer, the proposed solid-state electrolyte would not degrade like its liquid counterpart, allowing such batteries to last through hundreds of thousands of cycles. Further, say the researchers, unlike conventional Li-ion batteries, solid-state versions would be able to function at extremely low temperatures. The solid-state electrolyte would also allow for an improvement of 20% to 30% in power density.
Solid-state electrolytes could be "a real game-changer," says Ceder, enabling "almost a perfect battery, solving most of the remaining issues” of battery life, safety, and cost.
For more see the paper in Nature Materials, "Design principles for solid-state lithium superionic conductors."
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