New Stabilization Method Could Revolutionize Solid State Batteries

Researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory and MIT have developed a new way to add more energy into solid-state batteries without increasing their volume or weight. Unlike with lithium ion batteries where a liquid electrolyte carries the charge between electrodes, a solid electrolyte layer is present in solid-state batteries. While this solid layer does away with the fire hazard linked to li-ion batteries and helps deliver more energy, the instability at the boundary between the two electrodes and the solid electrolyte layer shortens battery lifetime.

The researchers developed a new technique that involves the elimination of any carbon dioxide present during sintering, which is a step in the manufacturing process where battery materials are heated to develop bonds between the electrolyte layers and the cathode, which are made from ceramic compounds. Sintering is usually done at temperatures of 1,000^o C or higher for ceramic materials.

This process prompts atoms from each material to move into the other, which is what creates the bonds. The presence of carbon dioxide, no matter how small, can be dangerous. The researchers found that sintering the battery materials in pure oxygen helped develop bonds that matched the performance of the best coated surfaces without having to spend more for extra coatings to improve bonding between the layers.

The paper was authored by Professor Bilge Yildiz of materials science, nuclear science and engineering at MIT; Younggyu Kim, an MIT doctoral student; and Adrian Hunt and IradikanariWaluyo, both from Brookhaven National Lab.

Yildiz stated that while the higher energy density and safety of solid-state batteries had made the batteries desirable, the instability problems at the interface and the solid electrolyte’s lower conductivity kept the batteries from being commercialized at a large scale.

The researchers conducted experiments to show that carrying out the sintering process in a pure oxygen atmosphere helped create good bonds at temperatures of about 700^o C, noting that the presence of even tiny amounts of carbon dioxide caused destructive compounds to develop.

The energy density gains that solid-state batteries offer originate from the fact that these batteries use pure lithium metal as one of the electrodes. Pure lithium is significantly lighter than other electrodes made from lithium-infused graphite, which is what is currently used in most batteries.

The group’s findings were reported in the “Advanced Energy Materials” journal. The researchers hope the findings will be applied to battery production, with Yildiz noting that these findings can easily be adopted into the fabrication process. The researchers’ new study objective is to evaluate the performance of solid-state batteries.

Energy storage systems are evolving rapidly, and we are seeing alternatives to li-ion being fine-tuned by companies such as StorEn Technologies Inc. with a view to coming up with cost-effective options for utility-scale applications.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to StorEn Technologies Inc. are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/StorEn

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