The University of Maryland develops a new method of printing and sintering SSE films to reduce lithium battery loss

Lithium Grid News: According to foreign media reports, a research team led by Liangbing Hu of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland has recently developed a printing and sintering of various SSEs. New method of thin film. The team named this method 'printing and radiant heating' (PRH), which is characterized by the use of a solution-based printable technology and rapid sintering.

The electrolyte of traditional lithium batteries is organic liquid, which is prone to fire and explosion. In contrast, the use of ceramic solid electrolyte (SSE) films can prevent lithium dendrites from growing and avoid short circuits caused by thermal runaway, thereby providing feasible and safe solutions, while increasing energy density and promoting the development of next-generation lithium-ion batteries. However, due to the poor material quality, the ion conductivity of the currently used SSE films is low, about 10-8 to 10-5 S/cm.

In a typical process, the precursor suspension is printed on the substrate, and the concentration and thickness can be adjusted. Then, in an environment of about 1500°C, after about 3 seconds of rapid high-temperature sintering, an SSE film with excellent performance and quality can be obtained, thereby minimizing lithium loss and achieving high crystallinity. With this method, not only can the SSE film have a dense and uniform microstructure, but also good ion conductivity can be achieved. It is worth mentioning that it only takes about 5 minutes to complete the manufacturing process from the precursor to the final product, which is about 100 times faster than the traditional method.

The team demonstrated a garnet-based printed SSE film in a proof-of-concept demonstration with high ionic conductivity of up to 1ms/cm and excellent cycle stability. This method can also be applied to a variety of other designs, such as complex multilayer assembly to avoid cross-contamination during the synthesis process; in addition, it can also be used to prepare other ceramic thin films for the development of high-performance solid-state safety batteries and other thin-film-based Devices open up new opportunities.