Professor Ma's team at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) used spherical aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (SEM) to observe a strange non-periodic structure, although only one atom thick, the structural deficiency can significantly affect lithium ion transport, and therefore becomes another class in addition to grain boundaries, point defects require solid lithium battery researchers to pay close attention to periodic structures. The results of this study were recently published in the international academic journal "Nature Communications".
All-solid-state lithium batteries have become a hot topic in current battery research due to their safety and high energy density. In order to design solid electrolytes with high ionic conductivity, it is necessary to fully understand the transport mechanism of lithium ions.
Using sphere-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation of a classical solid-state electrolyte, the researchers found a large number of defects in the single atomic layer, which form a closed loop with each other. Comprehensive analysis shows that although the defects are only one atom thick, their special atomic structure prevents the complete passage of lithium ions. When these defects combine to form a closed loop, lithium ions within the closed volume cannot escape and external lithium ions cannot enter, and this part of the material is essentially unable to participate in ion transport. Electron microscopy observations confirm that this phenomenon is present in large quantities in the sample, and that the ionic conductivity of the solid electrolyte is thus reduced by about 1-2 orders of magnitude. The researchers named this unique non-periodic structure the "single-walled lithium trap". If the formation of single-walled lithium traps can be reduced or even avoided, the ionic conductivity will be significantly improved.
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