Electrochemical Characterization of a Drawn Thin-Film Mixed Oxy-Sulfide Glassy Electrolyte Material for Solid-State Battery Applications

Wednesday, 12 October 2022
J. Wheaton and S. Martin (Iowa State University)
Solid-state batteries are a promising avenue for next-generation lithium-ion batteries due to their enabling of the lithium metal anode, while simultaneously removing the flammable organic electrolyte. Glassy materials are particularly interesting as solid-state electrolytes due to their intrinsic lack of grain boundaries, their low temperature forming capabilities, and their highly tunable chemistries. Much work has been done to study the electrochemical properties of glasses in the Li2S – SiS2 – LixMOy phase space, and several compositions have shown high ionic conductivities (~ 10-3 S/cm), large electrochemical stability windows (0-5 V vs. Li/Li+), and good glass forming ability. These glasses, however, have not been well studied at thicknesses that are viable for commercialization of solid electrolytes (< 100 μm). Utilizing a glass working method known as the redraw process, a rectangular preform of glass can be reheated and drawn from ~ 5 mm in thickness to thin films of less than 100 μm. The electrochemical behavior of thin-film glasses in the Li2S – SiS2 – LiPO3 phase space created through the glass redraw process are studied utilizing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic symmetric cell cycling. These results show that thin-film glassy solid electrolytes made through the glass redraw method are a viable new research direction for generation of highly conducting thin-film solid-state electrolytes.