High-Performance Solid-State Electrolytes by Ultra-fast High Temperature Sintering (UHS)

We recently reported an ultrafast high temperature sintering (UHS) for solid state electrolytes (Science, 2020, May Cover). The long sintering time of conventional syntheses can lead to Li loss in garnet SSEs caused by the evaporation of Li and the formation of secondary phases that lead to lower ionic conductivity. In contrast, the UHS technique enables us to tune the sintering time in units of seconds, which provides excellent control in terms of the Li content and grain growth. I will discuss our progress on applying UHS method to sintering various solid-state electrolyte, from compositions to microstructures. By programming the temperature and time (T-t), we can establish process diagrams to sinter porous vs. dense structures. The rapid sintering also allows us to sintering multilayer solid-state electrolytes with significantly reduced interlayer diffusion.