1. Chemistry Department Colloquium

    "Design of high voltage all-solid-state batteries based on sulfide electrolytes"

    Presented by Xin Li, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University

    Tuesday, January 7, 2020, 2 pm
    Hamilton Seminar Room, Bldg. 555

    Hosted by: Enyuan Hu

    Ceramic sulfide solid-electrolytes are amongst the most promising materials for enabling solid-state lithium ion batteries. The ionic conductivities can meet or exceed liquid-electrolytes for such ceramic sulfides, however, there is a theoretical concern about the narrow electrochemical stability window of approximately 1.7-2.1 V vs lithium metal. In addition, ceramic sulfides are frequently plagued by interfacial reactions when combined with common electrode active materials. In this talk, methods for the stabilization of both the bulk electrochemical decompositions and the interfacial reactions will be discussed. Ceramic sulfides are known to substantially swell during electrochemical decay. Such swelling has been shown to provide viable means by which to stabilize electrochemical decomposition in lithium ion batteries. Experimental evidence and theoretical understanding of stability window expansion as the result of mechanical constriction will be discussed. An advanced mechanical constriction technique is applied on all-solid-state batteries constructed with Li10GeP2S12 (LGPS) as the electrolyte and lithium metal as the anode. The decomposition pathway of LGPS at the anode interface is modified by this mechanical constriction and the growth of lithium dendrite is inhibited, leading to excellent rate and cycling performances. On the cathode side, 5V all-solid-state batteries using layered LiCoO2 and spinel as cathodes will be presented and the stabilization mechanisms will be discussed. A combination of electrochemical battery tests, SEM, XAS, XPS and XRD characterizations, and DFT simulations was used. Biosketch Xin Li is an associate professor of materials science at School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) at Harvard University, who was an assistant professor at SEAS from 2015 to 2019. Xin Li's research group designs new energy storage materials through advanced characterizations and simulations, with the current focus on solid s