Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Mitigating Interfacial Mismatch between Lithium Metal and Garnet-Type Solid Electrolyte by Depositing Metal Nitride Lithiophilic Interlayer

Journal Article · · ACS Applied Energy Materials
Solid-state lithium batteries are generally considered as the next-generation battery technology that benefits from inherent nonflammable solid electrolytes and safe harnessing of high-capacity lithium metal. Among various solid-electrolyte candidates, cubic garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 ceramics hold superiority due to their high ionic conductivity (10–3 to 10–4 S cm-1) and good chemical stability against lithium metal. However, practical deployment of solid-state batteries based on such garnet-type materials has been constrained by poor interfacing between lithium and garnet that displays high impedance and uneven current distribution. Herein, we propose a facile and effective strategy to significantly reduce this interfacial mismatch by modifying the surface of such garnet-type solid electrolyte with a thin layer of silicon nitride (Si3N4). This interfacial layer ensures an intimate contact with lithium due to its lithiophilic nature and formation of an intermediate lithium–metal alloy. The interfacial resistance experiences an exponential drop from 1197 to 84.5 Ω cm2. Lithium symmetrical cells with Si3N4-modified garnet exhibited low overpotential and long-term stable plating/stripping cycles at room temperature compared to bare garnet. Furthermore, a hybrid solid-state battery with Si3N4-modified garnet sandwiched between lithium metal anode and LiFePO4 cathode was demonstrated to operate with high cycling efficiency, excellent rate capability, and good electrochemical stability. This work represents a significant advancement toward use of garnet solid electrolytes in lithium metal batteries for the next-generation energy storage devices.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
2469980
Journal Information:
ACS Applied Energy Materials, Journal Name: ACS Applied Energy Materials Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 5; ISSN 2574-0962
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (61)

Dendrite-Free Lithium Deposition Induced by Uniformly Distributed Lithium Ions for Efficient Lithium Metal Batteries journal February 2016
An Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphase with High Li-Ion Conductivity, Mechanical Strength, and Flexibility for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes journal December 2016
Reducing Interfacial Resistance between Garnet-Structured Solid-State Electrolyte and Li-Metal Anode by a Germanium Layer journal April 2017
Strategies Based on Nitride Materials Chemistry to Stabilize Li Metal Anode journal March 2017
Two-Dimensional Materials for Beyond-Lithium-Ion Batteries journal March 2016
Improved Rechargeability of Lithium Metal Anode via Controlling Lithium-Ion Flux journal October 2018
Fast Lithium Ion Conduction in Garnet-Type Li7La3Zr2O12 journal October 2007
Li6PS5X: A Class of Crystalline Li-Rich Solids With an Unusually High Li+ Mobility journal January 2008
Nitridosilicates and Oxonitridosilicates: From Ceramic Materials to Structural and Functional Diversity journal July 2011
Hybrid Polymer/Garnet Electrolyte with a Small Interfacial Resistance for Lithium-Ion Batteries journal December 2016
Transient Behavior of the Metal Interface in Lithium Metal-Garnet Batteries journal October 2017
Optical band gap of Li8SiN4 with disordered structure as a cathode material of lithium secondary batteries journal March 2015
Controlling Nucleation in Lithium Metal Anodes journal July 2018
Microwave Synthesis of Ternary Nitride Materials journal May 1997
Crystal structure and ionic conductivity of Li14Zn(GeO4)4 and other new Li+ superionic conductors journal February 1978
Preparation of lithium silicon nitrides and their lithium ion conductivity journal November 1987
Electrical properties of amorphous lithium electrolyte thin films journal July 1992
Thin-film rechargeable lithium batteries journal March 1995
Synthesis of a new lithium ionic conductor, thio-LISICON–lithium germanium sulfide system journal May 2000
A new ternary composite lithium silicon nitride as anode material for lithium ion batteries journal August 2006
Electrochemical stability of lithium halide electrolyte with antiperovskite crystal structure journal May 2019
PMMA-assisted Li deposition towards 3D continuous dendrite-free lithium anode journal January 2019
Flower-shaped lithium nitride as a protective layer via facile plasma activation for stable lithium metal anodes journal March 2019
Effect of substitution (Ta, Al, Ga) on the conductivity of Li7La3Zr2O12 journal May 2012
Challenges and perspectives of garnet solid electrolytes for all solid-state lithium batteries journal June 2018
Silicon nitride as anode material for Li-ion batteries: Understanding the SiNx conversion reaction journal September 2018
Crystal, electronic structures and photoluminescence properties of rare-earth doped LiSi2N3 journal February 2009
Synthesis of garnet-type Li7−xLa3Zr2O12−1/2x and its stability in aqueous solutions journal February 2011
The role of Al and Li concentration on the formation of cubic garnet solid electrolyte of nominal composition Li7La3Zr2O12 journal January 2012
Interphase formation on lithium solid electrolytes—An in situ approach to study interfacial reactions by photoelectron spectroscopy journal October 2015
Surface Chemistry Mechanism of Ultra-Low Interfacial Resistance in the Solid-State Electrolyte Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 journal September 2017
Lithium Diffusion Pathway in Li 1.3 Al 0.3 Ti 1.7 (PO 4 ) 3 (LATP) Superionic Conductor journal March 2016
Conformal, Nanoscale ZnO Surface Modification of Garnet-Based Solid-State Electrolyte for Lithium Metal Anodes journal December 2016
Li 3 N-Modified Garnet Electrolyte for All-Solid-State Lithium Metal Batteries Operated at 40 °C journal October 2018
Origin of Outstanding Stability in the Lithium Solid Electrolyte Materials: Insights from Thermodynamic Analyses Based on First-Principles Calculations journal October 2015
Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 Interface Modification for Li Dendrite Prevention journal April 2016
Study of Lithium Silicide Nanoparticles as Anode Materials for Advanced Lithium Ion Batteries journal May 2017
Drawing a Soft Interface: An Effective Interfacial Modification Strategy for Garnet-Type Solid-State Li Batteries journal May 2018
Li 10 SnP 2 S 12 : An Affordable Lithium Superionic Conductor journal October 2013
Transition from Superlithiophobicity to Superlithiophilicity of Garnet Solid-State Electrolyte journal September 2016
Synergistic Coupling between Li 6.75 La 3 Zr 1.75 Ta 0.25 O 12 and Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Induces High Ionic Conductivity, Mechanical Strength, and Thermal Stability of Solid Composite Electrolytes journal September 2017
Building better batteries journal February 2008
A solid future for battery development journal September 2016
Batteries: Getting solid journal April 2016
A lithium superionic conductor journal July 2011
Negating interfacial impedance in garnet-based solid-state Li metal batteries journal December 2016
Lithium metal anodes for rechargeable batteries journal January 2014
The origin of high electrolyte–electrode interfacial resistances in lithium cells containing garnet type solid electrolytes journal January 2014
First principles study on electrochemical and chemical stability of solid electrolyte–electrode interfaces in all-solid-state Li-ion batteries journal January 2016
Surface and interface engineering for organic–inorganic composite membranes journal January 2016
The effect of sintering process on lithium ionic conductivity of Li 6.4 Al 0.2 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 garnet produced by solid-state synthesis journal January 2018
A review on strategies addressing interface incompatibilities in inorganic all-solid-state lithium batteries journal January 2019
Atomic-scale origin of the large grain-boundary resistance in perovskite Li-ion-conducting solid electrolytes journal January 2014
Mastering the interface for advanced all-solid-state lithium rechargeable batteries journal November 2016
Toward garnet electrolyte–based Li metal batteries: An ultrathin, highly effective, artificial solid-state electrolyte/metallic Li interface journal April 2017
Electrical Energy Storage for the Grid: A Battery of Choices journal November 2011
Ionic Conductivity of Solid Electrolytes Based on Lithium Titanium Phosphate journal January 1990
Review—Interfaces: Key Issue to Be Solved for All Solid-State Lithium Battery Technologies journal March 2020
Effect of Gold Layer on Interface Resistance between Lithium Metal Anode and Li 6.25 Al 0.25 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 Solid Electrolyte journal January 2017
Fabrication of Silicon Nitride Ion Sensitive Field‐Effect Transistor for pH Measurement and DNA Immobilization/Hybridization journal January 2013
Lithium Dendrite Formation on a Lithium Metal Anode from Liquid, Polymer and Solid Electrolytes journal January 2016