46 companies/institutions around the world deploy solid-state batteries

At one time, lithium-ion batteries based on liquid electrolytes were considered one of the greatest inventions of mankind in the past 50 years. In the future, the battery industry relying on solid electrolytes will continue to challenge the limits of the industry. From a technical point of view, the current energy density of liquid lithium-ion batteries based on ternary materials has approached the limit of 300 watt-hours/kg, and it is difficult to continue to increase, and they are also facing increasingly prominent safety and battery life problems. my country’s industrial roadmap for the development of lithium-ion batteries clearly states that the goals for 2020, 2025, and 2030 are 300 watt-hours/kg, 400 watt-hours/kg, and 500 watt-hours/kg, respectively. New technological paths are needed for further improvement. Solid-state batteries have been recognized as a key technology for the development of next-generation lithium (ion) batteries with high safety and high specific energy. At the industrial level, according to Wu Fan, an associate researcher at the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, there are currently 46 companies and institutions in the global deployment of solid-state batteries. Domestic and foreign companies and funds are mainly deployed around three paths, namely: polymer electrolyte and inorganic The oxide and sulfide of the electrolyte represent the past, present and future of this technology respectively. Important companies and institutions in the field of polymers include: Bosch/Seeo, IonicMaterials, Medtronic, BlueSolutions/Bollore, etc.; important companies and institutions in the field of oxides include: Weilan New Energy, Taiwan Huineng, Qingtao Energy, TDK, NGKInsulators, Fujitsu, Murata, Hitachi, Toshiba, Quantumscape, Dyson/Sakti3, etc.; important companies and institutions in the sulfide field include: Toyota, Panasonic, Idemitsu Kosan, CATL, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Weilan New Energy, Ningbo Institute of Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang Fengli, Hitachi Shipbuilding, LG Chem, PolyPlus, etc. Although the industry has made clear the solid state of lithium-ion battery electrolytes and its future prospects are also very good, it still has to face certain challenges to achieve large-scale commercial development. As a new type of high-performance lithium-ion battery system, the challenges that solid-state batteries will face come from two levels of science and technology and industrialization: one is how to build a new system, the other is to solve the problem of the interface between the composite electrode and the electrode/solid electrolyte, and the third It is the curing process technology of the composite electrode and the integration process technology between the electrode and the solid electrolyte. The fourth is the equipment technology problem. In addition, although the safety of solid-state batteries has been significantly improved, it is still difficult to achieve intrinsic safety, and the risk of thermal runaway still exists. It is necessary to attach great importance to related issues. For example, polymer electrolytes and reduced oxide solid electrolytes can burn, and sulfide electrolytes are easy to burn. Is oxidized, high-rate lithium precipitation cannot be prevented, etc. From a practical perspective, solid-state batteries will experience a gradual process from mixed solid-liquid, quasi-solid to all-solid state. Some experts point out that this process may take about ten years. But in any case, the direction of solid-state batteries has been clear. At present, my country's Qingtao, Fengli, Weilan and other companies have determined a clear industrial direction and evolution path, and have a solid and feasible iterative method in the future development process. From this point of view, the solid-state battery field is likely to give birth to a new industry leader in subdivisions, and it is worth looking forward to.