{"id":8920,"date":"2025-09-18T20:35:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T00:35:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:35:25","slug":"solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/","title":{"rendered":"Solid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Ill., have developed a method to coat sulfide-based solid electrolytes, finding a thin, glass-like layer could be the key to longer-lasting, cost-effective solid-state batteries.<\/p>\n

In everyday life, we use many protective barriers: Sunscreen shields us from the sun, umbrellas keep us dry in the rain and oven mitts protect our hands from hot pans. Similarly, batteries need protection to stop their internal components from breaking down due to environmental exposure.<\/p>\n

Inside a battery, the electrolyte is the chemical medium that allows the electrical charge to flow between its components. Solid-state batteries (SSBs) use solid electrolytes instead of the liquid ones found in lithium-ion batteries. By using solid electrolytes, SSBs could revolutionize the energy storage industry by offering better energy density, safety and lifespan than lithium-ion ones.<\/p>\n

However, a big challenge for SSBs is that solid electrolytes can break down when exposed to atmospheric conditions like humidity and oxygen. This challenge is particularly severe for high-performance, sulfide-based solid electrolytes such as lithium phosphorus sulfur chloride (LPSCl). Making SSBs with these materials requires maintaining a dry room below -40 C (-40 F), which makes production costly.<\/p>\n

To improve the chemical stability and make manufacturing more affordable, Argonne researchers have developed a method to coat sulfide-based solid electrolytes using a process called atomic layer deposition (ALD) to apply a protective layer. This coating improves the chemical stability of the electrolyte not only by acting as a physical shield, but also by modifying the surface\u2019s electronic structure, resulting in materials that are more stable to moisture and oxygen.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research shows that even a very thin coating \u2014 just a few nanometers thick, or about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair \u2014 can act as a strong barrier, keeping the electrolyte intact and boosting its performance,\u201d said Argonne materials scientist Justin Connell. \u201cThis breakthrough not only can extend the battery\u2019s life but also can lower manufacturing costs by allowing production in less controlled environments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ALD process, commonly used in making computer chips, deposits a layer of aluminum oxide onto the electrolyte particles. Aluminum oxide is similar to glass, with many of the same properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve coated the solid electrolyte powder with an ultrathin, glass-like layer that stops it from reacting with the atmosphere,\u201d said Jeffrey Elam, a senior chemist and Argonne Distinguished Fellow. \u201cThis material can be so thin that it\u2019s less than one atomic layer, meaning it is thinner than the diameter of a single atom. At first, this result puzzled us, but computational modeling helped uncover an explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter Zapol, a computational scientist, explained, \u201cWe initially thought that the coating was just a physical barrier, but we discovered a lot more about the electronic properties of the electrolyte. The ALD coating alters the electronic structure of the electrolyte surface, which helps suppress degradation and maintain lithium-ion conductivity. This dual role \u2014 acting as both a physical shield and an electronic structure modifier \u2014 makes the coating particularly effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

The protective layer not only keeps the electrolyte stable but also ensures efficient lithium-ion movement, which is essential for the battery\u2019s operation.<\/p>\n

In tests with high humidity and oxygen, comparable to ambient air, the coated electrolytes performed much better than uncoated ones. The coated materials remained stable with little degradation, while the uncoated ones showed significant breakdown and atmospheric reactivity.<\/p>\n

he ability to work with these materials in less controlled environments is a key advantage of this coating. Materials scientist Zachary Hood noted that handling these materials under harsher conditions would simplify the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would allow manufacturers to use existing infrastructure, similar to what is used for lithium-ion batteries,\u201d he said. \u201cThis would result in significant savings in the upfront cost of factories needed to make batteries out of these materials, while also improving reliability since there is less concern of materials degradation during assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team is also working to scale up this method. They are currently collaborating with a commercial partner to produce larger quantities of the coated electrolyte for demonstration in larger format batteries.<\/p>\n

While the team has achieved success with the current aluminum oxide coating, they acknowledge that it is just one of many possible coating chemistries. There are many others to explore, and future research will focus on these alternatives.<\/p>\n

Results of this research were published in ACS Materials Letters<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Image \u2013 A comparison of uncoated LPSCI (a sulfide-based electrolyte) with aluminum oxide ALD-coated LPSCI when exposed to humid air, illustrating how the coating suppresses degradation.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information:<\/p>\n

Argonne National Laboratory
\nhttps:\/\/www.anl.gov\/<\/a><\/p>\n

University of Illinois at Chicago
\nhttps:\/\/www.uic.edu\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Ill., have developed a method to coat sulfide-based solid electrolytes, finding a thin, glass-like layer could be the key to longer-lasting, cost-effective solid-state batteries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63245,"featured_media":8921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[445,688,515,444,435,436,464,580],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batteries-and-energy-storage","category-coating-application","category-coatings-and-linings","category-industries-and-applications","category-news","category-news-articles","category-research-and-development","category-us-government-other"],"yoast_head":"\nSolid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Solid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Ill., have developed a method to coat sulfide-based solid electrolytes, finding a thin, glass-like layer could be the key to longer-lasting, cost-effective solid-state batteries.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-19T00:35:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/app\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/09\/EDFAS__092525__DOE__400.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Debbie Sniderman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Debbie Sniderman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Debbie Sniderman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/135b2d8ac98a363d0bd9ec033a2904ad\"},\"headline\":\"Solid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-19T00:35:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":783,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/EDFAS__092525__DOE__400.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Batteries and Energy Storage\",\"Coating application\",\"coatings-and-linings\",\"Industries and Applications\",\"news\",\"News Articles\",\"Research and Development\",\"US Government-Other\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/\",\"name\":\"Solid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/EDFAS__092525__DOE__400.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-19T00:35:25+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/EDFAS__092525__DOE__400.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/EDFAS__092525__DOE__400.webp\",\"width\":400,\"height\":225},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Solid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/\",\"name\":\"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\",\"description\":\"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/layout_set_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/41\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/layout_set_logo.png\",\"width\":360,\"height\":95,\"caption\":\"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/135b2d8ac98a363d0bd9ec033a2904ad\",\"name\":\"Debbie Sniderman\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asminternational.org\\\/edfas\\\/author\\\/dsniderman\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Solid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Solid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","og_description":"Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Ill., have developed a method to coat sulfide-based solid electrolytes, finding a thin, glass-like layer could be the key to longer-lasting, cost-effective solid-state batteries.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/","og_site_name":"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","article_published_time":"2025-09-19T00:35:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":225,"url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/app\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/09\/EDFAS__092525__DOE__400.webp","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Debbie Sniderman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Debbie Sniderman","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/"},"author":{"name":"Debbie Sniderman","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#\/schema\/person\/135b2d8ac98a363d0bd9ec033a2904ad"},"headline":"Solid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating","datePublished":"2025-09-19T00:35:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/"},"wordCount":783,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/09\/EDFAS__092525__DOE__400.webp","articleSection":["Batteries and Energy Storage","Coating application","coatings-and-linings","Industries and Applications","news","News Articles","Research and Development","US Government-Other"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/","url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/","name":"Solid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating - Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/09\/EDFAS__092525__DOE__400.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-19T00:35:25+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/09\/EDFAS__092525__DOE__400.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/09\/EDFAS__092525__DOE__400.webp","width":400,"height":225},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/solid-state-batteries-get-a-boost-with-new-protective-coating\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Solid-state batteries get a boost with new protective coating"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/","name":"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","description":"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#organization","name":"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society","url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/10\/layout_set_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-prd-main.asm-media.cloud\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/10\/layout_set_logo.png","width":360,"height":95,"caption":"Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/#\/schema\/person\/135b2d8ac98a363d0bd9ec033a2904ad","name":"Debbie Sniderman","url":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/author\/dsniderman\/"}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asminternational.org\/edfas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}