High Cathode Loading and Low-Temperature Operating Garnet-Based All-Solid-State Lithium Batteries – Material/Process/Architecture Optimization and Understanding of Cell Failure

Abstract

All-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs) are prepared using garnet-type solid electrolytes by quick liquid phase sintering (Q-LPS) without applying high pressure during the sintering. The cathode layers are quickly sintered with a heating rate of 50–100 K min−1 and a dwell time of 10 min. The battery performance is dramatically improved by simultaneously optimizing materials, processes, and architectures, and the initial discharge capacity of the cell with a LiCoO2-loading of 8.1 mg reaches 1 mAh cm−2 and 130 mAh g−1 at 25 °C. The all-solid-state cell exhibits capacity at a reduced temperature (10 °C) or a relatively high rate (0.1 C) compared to the previous reports. The Q-LPS would be suitable for large-scale manufacturing of ASSLBs. The multiphysics analyses indicate that the internal stress reaches 1 GPa during charge/discharge, which would induce several mechanical failures of the cells: broken electron networks, broken ion networks, separation of interfaces, and delamination of layers. The experimental results also support these failures.