Researchers at MIT and Samsung, in conjunction with the University of California at San Diego and the University of Maryland, have developed a solid state electrolyte for lithium ion batteries and say their work could greatly improve device lifetime and safety, while boosting the amount of power stored in a given space.
The results, reported in Nature Materials, describe an approach to the development of solid state electrolytes that could address the challenges associated with improving lithium ion batteries.
Solid state electrolytes could be 'a real game changer', according to visiting professor of materials science and engineering Gerbrand Ceder. The key to making this feasible, Ceder said, was to find solid materials that could conduct ions fast enough to be useful in a battery. "There was a view that solids cannot conduct fast enough," he said. "That paradigm has been overthrown."
The initial work focused on materials known as superionic lithium-ion conductors – compounds of lithium, germanium, phosphorus and sulphur. However, the team says the principles derived from its work could lead to even more effective materials. The solid-state electrolyte not only enables low temperature operation, it also brings a 20% increase in power density.
The research – part of an ongoing partnership with the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology in the US – has also led to advances in the use of quantum dot materials to create highly efficient solar cells and sodium batteries, Ceder concluded.
