According to foreign media reports, the research team of Dr. Hyoungchul Kim of the Energy Materials Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has successfully developed a sulfide-based superionic conductor that can be used as a high-performance solid-state electrolyte. , for all-solid-state batteries. The new material enables lithium-ion conductivity to reach 10.2 mS/cm at room temperature, comparable to the liquid electrolytes used in typical lithium-ion batteries. In addition, the research team has developed a new synthesis technique that can shorten the processing time of existing synthesis techniques by more than one-third. This technology is expected to greatly accelerate the mass production of superionic solid-state electrolyte materials and facilitate the commercialization of all-solid-state batteries.
Currently, Li-ion batteries based on liquid electrolytes are mainly used in electric vehicles and energy storage devices. However, concerns about existing batteries with flammable liquid electrolytes have grown as the safety concerns of such batteries have been raised repeatedly. To address this safety issue, recently, all-solid-state battery technology (where all battery components are replaced by solid-state materials) has attracted great attention.
However, unlike liquid electrolytes in which lithium ions can move freely, the conductivity of solid electrolytes is only 1/10 to 1/100 that of liquid electrolytes because the movement of lithium ions is confined in a rigid solid-state lattice. This has also become one of the most important and difficult challenges in the development of solid-state battery technology, and it also has great technical and economic value.
AL t4518526620189696 KIST develops high-performance solid-state electrolytes to improve the overall performance of electric vehicles
Dr. Kim’s research team used a sulfide crystal structure called arginite to develop a solid-state electrolyte with superconductivity. At the same time, due to the high concentration of lithium ions and the stable structure of the crystal structure, it has a high application prospect. However, due to the uniqueness of the structure, the lithium ion conductivity is still below 4 mS/cm due to the trapping of lithium ions in an octahedral cage located in the arginite crystal.
However, the research team has recently developed a new type of lithium ion channel, by applying a technique to selectively replace a halogen element, chlorine, at specific plateau sites, allowing lithium ions to pass through the eight faceted cage. The new solid-state electrolyte material developed by KIST achieves a lithium-ion conductivity of 10.2 mS/cm, which is comparable to traditional liquid electrolytes at room temperature, and maintains electrochemical stability under various battery operating conditions.
In addition, the novel synthesis method developed by the KIST research team has received more attention due to its potential to significantly increase the mass yield of superionic solid-state electrolyte materials, since traditional solid-state reaction processes require more than a few days of processing time, while the study proposes The simple synthesis method combines the nanocrystal nucleation process with the infrared rapid heat treatment technology to shorten the treatment time to less than 10 hours.