A Nanoscale Design Approach for Enhancing the Li-Ion Conductivity of the Li10GeP2S12Solid Electrolyte

James A. Dawson, M. Saiful Islam

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

The discovery of the lithium superionic conductor Li10GeP2S12 (LGPS) has led to significant research activity on solid electrolytes for high-performance solid-state batteries. Despite LGPS exhibiting a remarkably high room-temperature Li-ion conductivity, comparable to that of the liquid electrolytes used in current Li-ion batteries, nanoscale effects in this material have not been fully explored. Here, we predict that nanosizing of LGPS can be used to further enhance its Li-ion conductivity. By utilizing state-of-the-art nanoscale modeling techniques, our results reveal significant nanosizing effects with the Li-ion conductivity of LGPS increasing with decreasing particle volume. These features are due to a fundamental change from a primarily one-dimensional Li-ion conduction mechanism to a three-dimensional mechanism and major changes in the local structure. For the smallest nanometric particle size, the Li-ion conductivity at room temperature is three times higher than that of the bulk system. These findings reveal that nanosizing LGPS and related solid electrolytes could be an effective design approach to enhance their Li-ion conductivity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)424-431
Number of pages8
JournalACS Materials Letters
Volume4
Issue number2
Early online date26 Jan 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the EPSRC Programme Grant “Enabling next generation lithium batteries” (EP/M009521/1) and the MCC/Archer consortium (EP/L000202/1). J.A.D. also gratefully acknowledges EPSRC and Newcastle University for funding via EP/V013130/1 and a Newcastle Academic Track (NUAcT) Fellowship, respectively.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • General Materials Science

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