Solid State Electrolytes: Nonuniform Ionic and Electronic Transport of Ceramic and Polymer/Ceramic Hybrid Electrolyte by Nanometer-Scale Operando Imaging for Solid-State Battery

Chun Sheng Jiang, Nathan Dunlap, Yejing Li, Harvey Guthrey, Ping Liu, Se-Hee Lee, Mowafak Al-Jassim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Replacing the liquid electrolyte in lithium batteries with solid-state ion conductor is promising for next-generation energy storage that is safe and has high energy density. Here, nanometer-resolution ionic and electronic transport imaging of Li3PS4 (LPS), a solid-state electrolyte (SSE), is reported. This nm resolution is achieved by using a logarithm-scale current amplifier that enhances the current sensitivity to the fA range. Large fluctuations of ion current—one to two orders of magnitude on the LPS and on the LPS region of a polymer/LPS bulk hybrid SSE—that must be mitigated to eliminate Li dendrite formation and growth, are found. This ion current fluctuation is understood in terms of highly anisotropic transport kinetic barriers along the different crystalline axes due to different grain orientations in the polycrystalline and glass ceramic materials. The results on the bulk hybrid SSE show a sharp transition of ionic and electronic transport at the LPS/polymer boundary and decreases in average ionic current with decreasing polyimine particle size and with extensive cycling. The results elucidate the mechanism of polyimine extension into interparticles to prevent Li dendrite growth. This work opens up novel characterization of charge transport, which relates to Li plating and stripping for solid-state-batteries.

Original languageAmerican English
Article number2000219
Number of pages10
JournalAdvanced Energy Materials
Volume10
Issue number21
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5K00-76038

Keywords

  • atomic force microscopy
  • ion transport
  • LiPS
  • nanometer resolution
  • polymer/ceramic hybrid
  • solid-state electrolyte

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