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Results for “Solid-state electrolyte”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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768 records · Page 43
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Predictive Engineering of Interfaces and Cathodes for High-Performance All Solid-State Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

The primary goal of this project is to leverage data-driven methods and machine learning strategies to develop accurate multi-physics models for all-solid-state Li-S battery (ASLSB) materials that can capture electrochemical and transport phenomena over atomic to mesoscopic length/timescales. These models will be rigorously validated by synthesis and advanced characterization experiments. The team will leverage the predictive power of these models, alongside synthesis/characterization experiments and battery fabrication to address longstanding issues at the electrode/electrolyte interfaces in ASLSBs. The project’s proposed technology involves the following: (1) halide-doped solid sulfide electrolytes that can concurrently provide high Li + ion conductivity and suppress dendrite growth; (2) novel mesoporous cathode composed of super-P and carbon nanotubes co-infiltrated with sulfur and sulfide electrolyte, which hold potential to allow high sulfur loading and optimal ion/electron pathways; and (3) functionalization of sulfide electrolyte with ionic liquids to improve physical contact and minimize impedance at the cathode/electrolyte interface. Successful development of proposed predictive models (at multiple scales) will bridge this knowledge gap and will advance fundamental understanding of reaction chemistry, kinetics, charge transfer, and dendrite growth at electrified SSIs. This will enable predictive design of effective strategies to mitigate interfacial problems in ASSLSBs, including poor interfacial contact, interfacial impedance to Li + ion transport, and poor electron/ion conduction within cathodes. Ultimately, the fundamental knowledge gained will lead to development of high-performance ASSLSBs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development of 3D Printing Techniques for Solid-State Lithium Batteries: Energy Storage Internship (Final Report)

The goal of this internship was to develop a solid polymer electrolyte with a suitable ionic conductivity and mechanical properties and integrate it with 3D printed cathode for solid state lithium batteries. While liquid electrolytes will have much higher conductivities and therefore higher power densities than solid electrolytes, batteries with such electrolytes suffer from extreme dendritic growth, short-circuiting, and general failure. Typically, batteries prevent this by including a solid yet porous separator somewhere between the anode and cathode to suppress dendritic growth. Solid polymer electrolyte acts as the conductive medium between electrodes as well as the separator that prevents failure from short-circuiting. The specific system explored is a vinyl ethylene carbonate (VEC) and polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) mixed polymer solution using both 2,2’-azobis(2-methylpropionitrile) (AIBN) and Irgacure 819, respectively as thermal and photo- initiators. Electrochemical and rheological techniques were used to determine the optimal polymer solution and curing conditions. Through this research, multiple new pathways of exploration have been determined to create a usable solid polymer electrolyte through a combination of varying cure intensities and initiator concentrations.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Solid State Li Ion Batteries Using Si Composite Anodes

Solid Power has teamed with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to develop an all solid-state lithium-ion battery (ASSB), enabled by a high-capacity Si anode and a solid state electrolyte (SSE). Replacing liquid electrolytes with solid electrolytes addresses the calendar life challenges that currently limit the widespread adoption of Si anodes. In this project, Si-SSE composite materials have been developed with a specific capacity >1500 mAh/g (at electrode level). A Si anode was coated by using a roll-to-roll process. All-solid-state NMC-Si pouch cells have been assembled and tested. Cycle life of 1100 at 100% DOD has been demonstrated in the solid state Si pouch cell. Excellent calendar life is achieved in the cell via a high temperature storage test.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Enhancing Superionic Conductivity in Cluster-Based Sodium-Rich Antiperovskites

Sodium (Na) superionic conductors are the key to developing next-generation solid-state batteries with safety and low cost. However, most of the known Na-conductors exhibit limited ionic conductivities at room temperature (RT), hindering their practical applications. To meet the challenge, a series of Li- and Na-rich antiperovskite superionic conductors based on cluster ions (e.g. BH4- and BCl4-) have been theoretically developed [e.g. Fang et al. PNAS 114, 11046, 2017; ACS App. Mat. Inter. 11, 963, 2018]. These materials exhibit superior properties as solid electrolytes with greatly enhanced ionic conductivities at RT. One cluster-based solid electrolyte of such, Na3O(BH)4, has been successfully synthesized for the first time most recently and its measured RT ionic conductivity is well above 10-3 S/cm which is four orders of magnitude higher than that of its halogen counterparts Na3OX (X = Cl, Br, I) [Sun et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 141, 5640, 2019]. In this work, we aim to further enhance the ionic conductivity of the Na-superionic conductor by using chemical mixing according to the size effect. The study further shows the advantage of utilizing cluster ions as building blocks, introducing additional degrees of freedom into tuning the properties of superionic conductors.

Fang, Hong↗
DOE OSTI2025

Novel Superionic Na Conductors for Solid‐State Na batteries: Materials and Interface

This project aims to advance the fundamental understanding on how the cation or anion doping influence on the crystal structure, phase stability and ion transport of novel Na superionic conductors. Specifically, we focus on the Na 3-x A x SbS 4-y X y family solid electrolytes (A: cation dopant, X: anion dopant), a class of promising materials for all-solid-state sodium batteries owing to their high ionic conductivity and compositional tunability. By integrating materials synthesis, neutron scattering, and electrochemical characterization and theoretical simulations, this project sees to elucidate 1) how does the synthesis approaches (solid-state reaction, low-temperature reaction) on the phase purity and doping process; 2) how chemical doping (A: cation dopants such as Sn; X: anion dopants such as Se, F) modulate lattice dynamics and Na+ migration as well as interface stability toward Na metal. Specifically, this project’s proposed technology involves three objectives: (1) synthesize novel Na-ion conductors (anion or cation doped Na 3 SbS 4 ) with high phase purity and examine their structural features (e.g., phase stability); (2) understand Na-ion conductive properties of new Na-ion conductors through a combination of experimental characterizations and theoretical simulations; (3) investigate the interface stability of novel Na superionic conductors with electrode materials in solid-state Na batteries. These objectives will be achieved through combined experimental synthesis/characterizations and computational approaches. The obtained knowledge will provide a comprehensive synthesis-structure-property correlation, enabling the rational design of novel solid-state conductors with excellent conductivity and stability.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Task-Specific Phosphonium Iongels by Fast UV-Photopolymerization for Solid-State Sodium Metal Batteries

Sodium metal batteries are an emerging technology that shows promise in terms of materials availability with respect to lithium batteries. Solid electrolytes are needed to tackle the safety issues related to sodium metal. In this work, a simple method to prepare a mechanically robust and efficient soft solid electrolyte for sodium batteries is demonstrated. A task-specific iongel electrolyte was prepared by combining in a simple process the excellent performance of sodium metal electrodes of an ionic liquid electrolyte and the mechanical properties of polymers. The iongel was synthesized by fast (<1 min) UV photopolymerization of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) in the presence of a saturated 42%mol solution of sodium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (NaFSI) in trimethyl iso-butyl phosphonium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (P111i4FSI). The resulting soft solid electrolytes showed high ionic conductivity at room temperature (≥10 -3 S cm -1 ) and tunable storage modulus (10 4 –10 7 Pa). Iongel with the best ionic conductivity and good mechanical properties (Iongel10) showed excellent battery performance: Na/iongel/NaFePO 4 full cells delivered a high specific capacity of 140 mAh g -1 at 0.1 C and 120 mAh g -1 at 1 C with good capacity retention after 30 cycles.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS2006

Alpha-Voltaic Sources Using Liquid Ga as Conversion Medium

A family of proposed miniature sources of power would exploit the direct conversion of the kinetic energy of alpha particles into electricity. In addition to having long operational lives, these sources are expected to operate with energy-conversion efficiencies from 70 to 90 percent. A power source as proposed (see figure) would be an electrolytic cell in which liquid gallium would serve as both an electrolyte and an energy-conversion medium. The cell would contain an iridium cathode and a zirconium anode. The alpha particles, each with a kinetic energy approx.5.8 MeV, would be emitted by radioactive decay of Cm-244, which has a half-life of 18 years. The Cm-244 source would be positioned so that the a particles would enter the liquid gallium, where their kinetic energy would be dissipated mostly through ionization of Ga atoms, creating Ga(+) ions and free electrons. The electrons would be collected by iridium cathode, and the Ga(+) ions would be neutralized at the zirconium cathode by electrons returning after flowing through an external circuit. Gallium is a candidate for use as the electrolyte and the energy-conversion medium because in the liquid state it is a semimetal: its electrical conductivity is greater than that of a typical semiconductor but small in comparison with the conductivities of metals. Consequently, in liquid gallium, electrons and Ga(+) can exist without immediate recombination and can be moved by electric fields. It is expected that electric fields, resulting at least partly from the difference between the work functions of the electrode metals, would move the electrons and ions to their respective electrodes. The open-circuit potential of the cell is expected to be 1.62 V - equal to the difference between the work functions of iridium and zirconium. Unlike in a solid-state energy conversion medium, the impingement of energetic a particles would not give rise to displacement damage in the liquid gallium. Hence, the cell should have a long life, limited only by the half-life of Cm-244. A cell having a volume less than 25 cu mm, containing 1 curie of Cm-244 (the curie is a unit of radioactivity equal to 3.7 10(exp 10) disintegrations per second) is expected to deliver a current between 7 and 12 mA, which, at the expected open-circuit potential, would provide a power in the approximate range of 11 to 20 mW.

Patel, Jagdish U.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Nasicon dual ion conductors for all solid-state batteries

A super ion conductor composition is disclosed. The super ion conductor composition has the general formula: A 1+x M x/2 Zr 2−x/2 (PO 4 ) 3 , where each A is independently Na or Li, M is Mn or Mg, and subscript x is from 0.5 to 3. A solid electrolyte comprising the super ion conductor composition, and a method of preparing the solid electrolyte, are also disclosed. The method comprises combining a zirconium compound, a manganese or magnesium compound, a sodium compound, and a phosphate compound to give a mixture; and calcining the mixture to give the super ion conductor composition, thereby preparing the solid electrolyte. Functional materials and devices comprising the super ion conductor composition are also disclosed, including a catholyte composition, an ion conducting solid electrolyte membrane, as well as all-solid-state batteries.

Amin, Ruhul↗
DOE OSTI2026

Surface heterogeneity propagation and homogenization for pouch cell-scale Li metal anodes

Li metal anode is a promising candidate for next-generation energy storage systems and is widely explored in Li-ion and solid-state batteries. Despite its potential, Li metal anodes face instabilities during long-term cycling, especially when paired with NMC or sulfur-based cathodes, where Li is cycled at high capacities of 6-8 mAh/cm2, equivalent to a thickness of 30-40 µm. During such extensive utilization, degradation mechanisms such as excessive solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), dendrites, and dead Li emerge, and ultimately lead to sudden failure and reduced cycle life. The origin of the degradation mechanisms stem from surface heterogeneities introduced during Li foil manufacturing and storage [1, 2]. As cycling progresses, the local heterogeneities propagate, resulting in uneven Li utilization and degradation-prone regions across the electrode [3], which consequently induce performance variations at the cell level. This heterogeneity propagation is particularly pronounced in large-format pouch cells in practical applications, where the surface effects are magnified. Without a clear understanding of the multi-scale heterogeneities and the development of surface homogenization methods, the performance consistency will be compromised, hindering the commercialization of Li metal batteries. In this presentation, we investigate the evolution of surface heterogeneity propagation on commercially available Li foils. We discover that inhomogeneous Li utilization appears as early as the first half-cycle of formation, manifesting as localized clusters and pits. In pouch cell configurations, these features exhibit areal density variations across the electrode on a scale of millimeters. To improve Li utilization homogeneity, a scalable mechanical brushing method is introduced to remove the chemically heterogeneous surface passivation layer. Furtherore, the influence of utilization homogeneity on cell-to-cell consistency is evaluated using 32 Li-NMC811 pouch cells divided into as-received and brushed Li groups. On the brushed Li, clusters and pits are no longer observable, and the cells exhibit significantly improved consistency in discharge capacity trajectories and cycle lifetime. Overall, this study highlights the role of Li surface utilization homogeneity on long-term cycling performance. Our research provides a pathway for improving large-area electrode uniformity and establishing evaluation methods for cell-to-cell consistency, both are key steps toward the commercialization of Li metal batteries and beyond. [1] Otto, Svenja-K., et al. "In-depth characterization of lithium-metal surfaces with XPS and ToF-SIMS: toward better understanding of the passivation layer." Chemistry of Materials 33.3 (2021): 859-867. [2] Hatzell, Kelsey, et al. "Aligning lithium metal battery research and development across academia and industry." Joule (2024). [3] Kim, Sangwook, et al. "Calendar life of lithium metal batteries: Accelerated aging and failure analysis." Energy Storage Materials 65 (2024): 103147.

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