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Title: Nanoscale Solid State Batteries Enabled by Thermal Atomic Layer Deposition of a Lithium Polyphosphazene Solid State Electrolyte

Journal Article · · Chemistry of Materials
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
  2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
  3. Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD (United States). Applied Physics Lab., Dept. of Research and Exploratory Development
  4. American Society for Engineering Education, Washington, DC (United States)

Several active areas of research in novel energy storage technologies, including three-dimensional solid state batteries and passivation coatings for reactive battery electrode components, require conformal solid state electrolytes. We describe an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for a member of the lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON) family, which is employed as a thin film lithium-conducting solid electrolyte. The reaction between lithium tert-butoxide (LiOtBu) and diethyl phosphoramidate (DEPA) produces conformal, ionically conductive thin films with a stoichiometry close to Li2PO2N between 250 and 300°C. The P/N ratio of the films is always 1, indicative of a particular polymorph of LiPON which closely resembles a polyphosphazene. Films grown at 300°C have an ionic conductivity of (6.51 ± 0.36)×10-7 S/cm at 35°C, and are functionally electrochemically stable in the window from 0 to 5.3V vs. Li/Li+. We demonstrate the viability of the ALD-grown electrolyte by integrating it into full solid state batteries, including thin film devices using LiCoO2 as the cathode and Si as the anode operating at up to 1 mA/cm2. The high quality of the ALD growth process allows pinhole-free deposition even on rough crystalline surfaces, and we demonstrate the fabrication and operation of thin film batteries with the thinnest (<40nm) solid state electrolytes yet reported. Finally, we show an additional application of the moderate-temperature ALD process by demonstrating a flexible solid state battery fabricated on a polymer substrate.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage (NEES)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000; SC0001160
OSTI ID:
1360797
Report Number(s):
SAND-2017-2069J; 651195
Journal Information:
Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 8; ISSN 0897-4756
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 104 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (20)

Advances in 3D Thin‐Film Li‐Ion Batteries journal June 2019
Sur-/interfacial regulation in all-solid-state rechargeable Li-ion batteries based on inorganic solid-state electrolytes: advances and perspectives journal January 2019
Kinetics‐Controlled Degradation Reactions at Crystalline LiPON/Li x CoO 2 and Crystalline LiPON/Li‐Metal Interfaces journal March 2018
Reviving lithium cobalt oxide-based lithium secondary batteries-toward a higher energy density journal January 2018
Reducing the Interfacial Resistance in All‐Solid‐State Lithium Batteries Based on Oxide Ceramic Electrolytes journal April 2019
Computational investigation of a promising Si–Cu anode material journal January 2019
Energy storage: The future enabled by nanomaterials journal November 2019
A Critical Review: The Impact of the Battery Electrode Material Substrate on the Composition and Properties of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) Coatings journal October 2019
Probing ion current in solid-electrolytes at the meso- and nanoscale journal January 2018
Atomic layer deposition of functional multicomponent oxides journal November 2019
Advances on Microsized On-Chip Lithium-Ion Batteries journal September 2017
Tape‐Casting Li 0.34 La 0.56 TiO 3 Ceramic Electrolyte Films Permit High Energy Density of Lithium‐Metal Batteries journal November 2019
New development of atomic layer deposition: processes, methods and applications journal May 2019
Scope of surface-modified molecular and nanomaterials in gel/liquid forms for developing mechanically flexible DSSCs/QDSSCs journal January 2019
Growth of lithium hydride thin films from solutions: Towards solution atomic layer deposition of lithiated films journal January 2019
Computer Test of a New Silicene Anode for Lithium‐Ion Batteries journal January 2019
Ni-Al-Cr superalloy as high temperature cathode current collector for advanced thin film Li batteries text January 2018
Kinetics-Controlled Degradation Reactions at Crystalline LiPON/Li(x)CoO(2) and Crystalline LiPON/Li-metal Interfaces text January 2018
Wet-Chemical Synthesis of 3D Stacked Thin Film Metal-Oxides for All-Solid-State Li-Ion Batteries journal September 2017
Recent Progresses and Development of Advanced Atomic Layer Deposition towards High-Performance Li-Ion Batteries journal October 2017

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