In recent years, solid-state batteries have been a hot topic in the lithium battery industry, attracting considerable attention.
Recently, there is good news from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Wu Jianfei, leading the Advanced Energy Storage Materials and Technologies Research Group, has successfully addressed the industry pain points and bottlenecks in the layering process of sulfide all-solid-state batteries, overcoming the final hurdle in the production process of large-scale vehicle batteries, and achieving a crucial breakthrough in sulfide pouch cell stacking technology.
Dr. Wu Jianfei told the Chinese Science Bulletin, "We aim to achieve mass production of sulfide all-solid-state batteries by 2026."
Dr. Wu Jianfei introduced that the multi-layer stacked pouch cells prepared by the research group exhibit almost no capacity decay after 300 cycles, and their performance is still being tested. Currently, the research team is preparing for the establishment of a production line for 20 ampere-hour (Ah) sulfide all-solid-state batteries, and is collaborating with upstream and downstream industry partners to accelerate the research and validation process. Meanwhile, the research group has made crucial progress in the design of sulfide electrolytes and the stability of their interfaces with lithium negative electrodes, with relevant research findings recently published in the internationally renowned journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Comparison of Performance of All-Solid-State Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Provided by Qingdao Institute of Energy.
Guided by the national "dual-carbon" policy, new energy vehicles have become an industry vigorously supported for development by the country. The energy density and safety of batteries are paramount for achieving the sustainable development of new energy vehicles. All-solid-state batteries, with their advantages of high safety, good stability, and high energy density, have innovatively addressed a series of issues such as short lifespan, flammability, and explosiveness present in traditional organic electrolyte batteries, making them the most anticipated next-generation secondary battery system.
Sulfide solid electrolytes possess conductivity comparable to liquid electrolytes, suitable electrochemical windows, non-oxidizing at high temperatures up to 60°C, and non-solidifying at low temperatures. This enables sulfide all-solid-state lithium batteries to have both high energy density and high rate capability, making them the best choice for electric vehicle power sources. Many car manufacturers worldwide have actively engaged in the research and development of sulfide all-solid-state lithium batteries and have announced production plans.
Under the leadership of Wu Jianfei, the research group proposed a strategy of dual-element co-doping modification of sulfide solid electrolytes to address the issues of low ionic conductivity and unstable interface with the lithium negative electrode of Li3PS4 sulfide electrolytes. Through ball milling and low-temperature sintering processes, a new type of sulfide solid electrolyte with high ionic conductivity and lithium electrochemical stability was prepared, and its application in all-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries was explored. This research provides new insights for the design of sulfide solid electrolytes and all-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries.
This work was supported and funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, the Cooperative Fund Project of the Clean Energy Innovation Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Key Research and Development Program of Shandong Province.
Related paper information: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c00358
