Solid-state Battery

In solid-state ionics, a solid-state battery is a battery that has both solid electrodes and solid electrolytes. As a group, these materials are very good conductors of ions, which is necessary for good electrolyte and electrode performance, and are essentially insulating toward electrons, which is desirable in electrolytes but undesirable in electrodes. The high ionic conductivity minimizes the internal resistance of the battery, thus permitting high power densities, while the high electronic resistance minimizes its self-discharge rate, thus enhancing its shelf life.

Examples of such materials include Ag4RbI5 for Ag+ conduction, LiI/Al2O3 mixtures for Li+ conduction, and the clay and β-alumina group of compounds (NaAl11O17) for Na+ and other mono- and divalent ions. At room temperature the ionic conductivity of a single crystal of sodium β-alumina is 0.035 S/cm, comparable to the conductivity of a 0.1 M HCl solution. This conductivity, however, is reduced in a battery by a factor of 2–5, because of the use of powdered or ceramic material rather than single crystals. Glassy and polymeric materials that can be readily made in thin film form, thus enhancing the rate capability of the overall system, are of increasing interest in the industry.

Solid-state batteries generally fall into the low-power density and high-energy density category. The former limitation arises because of the difficulty of getting high currents across solid–solid interfaces. However, these batteries do have certain advantages that outweigh this disadvantage: They are easy to miniaturize (for example, they can be constructed in thin film form), and there is no problem with electrolyte leakage. They tend to have very long shelf lives, and usually do not have any abrupt changes in performance with temperature, such as might be associated with electrolyte freezing or boiling.

As the batteries can exhibit a high Power-to-weight ratio it could make them ideal for use in electric vehicles as they are estimated to have twice to three times the energy density of existing automotive batteries.

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