Cold Sintering Halide-in-Oxide Composite Solid-State Electrolytes with Enhanced Ionic Conductivity

Abstract

All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) have attracted increasing attention for next-generation electrochemical energy storage due to their high energy density and enhanced safety, achieved through the use of nonflammable solid-state electrolytes (SSEs). Oxide-based SSEs, such as Li_1.3Al_0.3Ti_1.7(PO₄)₃ (LATP), are notable for their high ionic conductivity and excellent chemical and electrochemical oxidation stability. Nevertheless, their brittle mechanical properties and poor interface contact with electrode materials necessitate high-temperature and long-duration sintering or postcalcination processes, limiting their processability for real-world applications. Additionally, the formation of secondary phases can detrimentally affect the ionic conductivity of LATP electrolytes. Emerging halide-based SSEs offer reliable deformation for practical processing while maintaining high ionic conductivity. In this work, we report a transient liquid-assisted cold sintering process to integrate oxide-based LATP as the matrix and halide-based Li₃InCl₆ as the conductive boundary phase into a halide-in-oxide ceramic composite electrolyte at a low processing temperature of 150 °C. This composite structure significantly reduces interface resistance, effectively addressing ion-transport depletion across the boundaries between LATP particles. Consequently, the cosintered LATP-Li₃InCl₆ composite SSE exhibits a high ionic conductivity of 1.4 × 10^-4 S cm^-1 at ambient temperature. Furthermore, the symmetric Li|LATP-Li₃InCl₆·<i>n</i>DMF|Li cell demonstrates stable stripping and plating processes for 1600 h at 55 °C (0.1 mA cm^-2) and 1200 h at 100 °C (1 mA cm^-2). This work represents the first demonstration of halide-oxide ceramic composite SSEs that combine the advantages of oxides and halides for high-performance SSBs.