Proceedings of Materials for Sustainable Development Conference (MAT-SUS) (NFM22)
Publication date: 11th July 2022
Garnet oxide solid state electrolytes (SEs) are promising candidates for the replacement of flammable liquid electrolytes, due to their potential high ionic conductivity and chemical stability with Li. Extensive research has been focused on optimising the interface of garnets with Li, with the positive side to be somehow neglected. A significant issue of oxide SEs, hurdling their industrial application, is their poor contact with positive materials due to their rigidity. Poor interfacial contact leads to the need of co-sintering at high temperatures (>400 °C), which enables side reactions and unwanted processes like cation intermixing, diffusion of elements and formation of non-conductive secondary mixed phases.[1]
In this work the chemical stability of Li6.5La3Zr1.5Nb0.5O12 garnet SE was tested in contact with common positive materials used in the battery industry (e.g., LiCoO2 and LiFePO4). Mixtures of the SE and the positive material were pressed into pellets and then sintered at various temperatures (700 - 900 °C) in different gas atmospheres, with the duration of the sintering to be varied between 1 – 10 hours. The sintered materials were then analysed extensively using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-Ray element mapping and with Raman microscopy to prove the existence or absence of secondary mixed phases at given conditions.