Recent advances in solid-state beyond lithium batteries

Abstract

As battery technologies are in continuous development, and especially due to the rapid growth in vehicle electrification, which requires large (e.g., 100 s of kg) battery packs, there has been a growing demand for more efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly materials. Solid-state post-lithium-ion batteries are considered a possible next-generation energy storage technology. One immediate advantage of these power sources over commercial lithium-ion batteries is the potential of solving the resource issues facing LIBs, especially as cost-effective alternatives. The second advantage is the removal of flammable liquid electrolytes. The solid electrolytes are more resistant to changes in temperature and physical damage, produce up to 80% less heat, and are able to handle more charge/discharge cycles before degradation makes them unusable. All these features point towards a longer battery life. Other immediate gains include the removal of the membrane and casing required for a liquid electrolyte. This may reduce the weight and volume of each cell, leading to an increase in the energy density of the battery. In this review, we describe recent achievements in the development of sodium, potassium, and magnesium solid-state batteries. It can be revealed that while the research community has progressed greatly towards solid-state alkali and alkaline-earth batteries, much more improvement in the room temperature ionic conductivity of solid electrolytes is required. For the practical applications of these systems, the stability and interfacial reactions of solid electrolytes should be explored in great depth.

Collective Ion Dynamics in Ionic Plastic Crystals: The Origin of Conductivity Suppression

“…Solid-state batteries (SSBs) are considered to provide a next breakthrough in mobile electrical energy storage technology. − However, the development and implementation of SSBs is strongly hindered by the properties of solid electrolytes. Organic ionic plastic crystals (OIPCs) are one class of promising materials to replace liquid electrolytes in energy storage and other electrochemical devices. − Their nonflammability, absence of liquid phase, and negligible vapor pressure make OIPCs very attractive for the next generation of safe batteries.…”

Reference Electrode Reveals Insights on Sodium Metal/Solid Electrolyte Interface Cycling and Voiding Behaviors at High Current Densities and Areal Capacities

“…Distinct failure mechanisms of metal electrode/solid electrolyte interfaces include dendritic growths and void formation. 1,2 Both result from metal flux imbalances at the interface when (1) plating current becomes sufficiently large in localized regions to exceed the movement of metal away from the interface (dendrite) or (2) stripping current consumes metal faster than it can move back to the interface (voids). 3 While dendritic shorts lead to the cell voltage dropping, sometimes to zero and sometimes to a nonzero value, void formation appears as cell area-specific resistance (ASR -all abbreviations and acronyms are listed at the end of the paper) increase.…”

Advances in Electrochemical Energy Storage over Metallic Bismuth-Based Materials

“…Therefore, intensive investigation has been devoted to the study of next-generation energy storage systems, including sodium ion batteries (SIBs), potassium ion batteries (PIBs), magnesium ion batteries (MIBs), lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, etc. Basically, these beyond-lithium ion batteries and next-generation LIBs all operate based on the “rocking-chair” principle with alkali ions shuttling between anodes and cathodes [ 13 , 14 ]. Thus, what is crucial for these advanced energy storage systems is to develop appropriate electrode materials with high electrochemical performance.…”