Ceramic Electrolyte Membrane Technology: Enabling Revolutionary Electrochemical Energy Storage

The goal of this work is to enable the development of safe, high energy density batteries by advancing ceramic electrolyte technology for usein solid-state Li-ion batteries. Solid-state Li-ion batteries could significantly improve safety and eliminate the need for complex, massive thermal management systems often required for vehicle electrification. Li-S and Li-air cells could offer a two to five-fold increase in specific energy, thus improving electric vehicle range. In collaboration with the Army Research Laboratory, the MSU-Sakamoto group is one of the first groups to investigate a new ceramic electrolyte based on cubic garnet-structured lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide LLZO exhibiting the unprecedented combination of fast ion conductivity, stability against Li, air and moisture. While the initial stages of research involved relatively small prototypes, an accurate performance assessment in the proposed advanced batteries requires new materials processing technology to fabricate larger LLZO ceramic membranes. The goal of this work is to develop ceramic processing technology to fabricate LLZO membranes that have tens of square centimeters of area and are 0.1 millimeter thick. The ability to fabricate these electrolyte membranes will allow for high fidelity testing to accurately access LLZOs potential for use in advanced energy storage, specifically for vehicle electrification.