All solid-state battery using layered oxide cathode, lithium-carbon composite anode and thio-LISICON electrolyte

The investigation of a lithium-carbon composite (Li–C) anode for application in all-solid-state battery, based on (Li2S)0.75-(P2S5)0.25 glassy thio-LISICON electrolyte (Li2S-P2S5) is herein reported. The Li–C anode material is prepared by a mechanochemical, single step synthesis procedure. The Li–C/electrolyte interface is characterized in terms of cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and galvanostatic cycling in comparison with lithium metal, in order to evaluate the improvements in terms of resistance and lithium stripping deposition ability. Li–C anode powder is pressed into a pellet together with the Li2S-P2S5 electrolyte and Li2ZrO3-coated, Li[Ni0.8Co0.15Al0.05]O2 cathode powder (NCA-LZO), to form a new type of solid-state battery operating at room temperature. The Li–C/Li2S-P2S5/NCA-LZO battery shows remarkable cycling performance under galvanostatic conditions, particularly if compared to a more conventional configuration employing lithium metal as the anode. In addition, the all solid-state battery is characterized at various current densities, showing satisfactory rate capability. Under long term-cycling condition, performed at low current and prolonged to more than 250 days, the cell shows a stability over 100 cycles without fading. This is considered a remarkable result suggesting the solid-state cell here studied as suitable candidate for efficient and safe energy storage.