Electrochemical behavior of elemental alloy anodes in solid-state batteries

Abstract

Lithium alloy anodes in the form of dense foils offer significant potential advantages over lithium metal and particulate alloy anodes for solid-state batteries (SSBs). However, the reaction and degradation mechanisms of dense alloy anodes remain largely unexplored. Here, we investigate the electrochemical lithiation/delithiation behavior of 12 elemental alloy anodes in SSBs with Li6PS5Cl solid-state electrolyte (SSE), enabling direct behavioral comparisons. The materials show highly divergent first-cycle Coulombic efficiency, ranging from 99.3% for indium to ∼20% for antimony. Through microstructural imaging and electrochemical testing, we identify lithium trapping within the foil during delithiation as the principal reason for low Coulombic efficiency in most materials. The exceptional Coulombic efficiency of indium is found to be due to unique delithiation reaction front morphology evolution in which the high-diffusivity LiIn phase remains at the SSE interface. This study links composition to reaction behavior for alloy anodes and thus provides guidance toward better SSBs.