Adverse Effects of Trace Non-polar Binder on Ion Transport in Free-standing Sulfide Solid Electrolyte Separators

Sulfide solid-state electrolyte (SE) possesses high room-temperature ionic conductivity. However, fabrication of the free-standing, sheet-type thin sulfide SE film electrolyte to enable all-solid-state batteries to deliver high energy and power density remains challenging. Herein we show that argyrodite sulfide (Li6PS5Cl) SE can be slurry cast to form free-standing films with low (& LE;5 wt%) loadings of poly(isobutylene) (PIB) binder. Two factors contribute to a lower areal specific resistance (ASR) of the thin film SEs benchmarked to the pristine powder pellet SSE counterparts: i) 1-2 orders reduced thickness and ii) reasonably comparable ionic conductivity at room temperature after the isostatic pressing process. Nevertheless, an increasing polymer binder loading inevitably introduced voids in the thin film SEs, compromising anode/electrolyte interfacial ion transport. Our findings highlight that electrolyte/electrode interfacial stability, as well as the selection of slurry components, including sulfide SE, binder, and solvent, play essential roles in thin film sulfide electrolyte development.

Automated summary

In this study, it was demonstrated that argyrodite sulfide (Li6PS5Cl) solid-state electrolyte can be combined with a small amount of poly(isobutylene) (PIB) binder to prepare free-standing thin film electrolytes. The thin films showed low specific resistance, reduced thickness, and comparable room temperature ionic conductivity. However, the introduction of polymer binder resulted in voids in the thin film electrolytes, compromising ion transport at the anode/electrolyte interface.