Universal Soldering of Lithium and Sodium Alloys on Various Substrates for Batteries

The high theoretical specific capacity of lithium (Li) metal and the nonflammability of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) make the solid-state Li metal battery a promising option to develop safe batteries with high energy density. To make the switch from liquid to solid-state electrolyte, the high interfacial resistance resulting from the poor solid-solid contacts between Li metal and SSEs needs to be addressed. Herein, a one-step soldering technique to quickly coat molten Li onto different substrates including metals, ceramics, and polymers is presented. It is deduced that the surface energy and viscosity of the molten Li can be tuned by adding alloy elements, which improves the wettability against various substrates. When soldered onto the surface of garnet-based SSEs, the Li alloys exhibit significantly improved contact, which leads to an interface resistance as low as approximate to 7 Omega cm(2). While cycling under high loads, the newly plated Li still maintains tight contact with the garnet surface and demonstrates excellent electrochemical stability. Several Li binary alloys as well as sodium (Na) binary alloys are successfully tested on various substrates to demonstrate the versatility of this soldering technique for potential battery applications.