All-solid-state Lithium Ion Battery: Research and Industrial Prospects

All-solid-state lithium ion battery has become an important focus due to higher safety, higher energy density and wider operating temperature compared to the commercial lithium ion battery with liquid organic electrolyte. Research and development of solid electrolyte are the keys for the successful market penetration of all-solid-state lithium ion battery. Nowadays, three kinds of solid electrolytes, polyethylene-oxide (PEO) as well as its derivatives based polymer electrolyte, LiPON thin film electrolyte, and glassy sulfide. electrolyte, are widely studied and open very interesting new application prospects of all-solid-state lithium ion battery. Three major parameters of ionic conductivity, compatibility with electrodes, and manufacturing costs are used to evaluate the application prospects of the electrolyte. Based on that, PEO and its derivatives have low fabricating cost and good compatibility with electrodes. However, because of low lithium ionic conductivity at ambient temperature, the batteries using this electrolyte needs to work at high temperatures with a temperature control system. LiPON is most suitable for ultra-thin-battery and micro-battery, which present long cycle life and good rate performance. But, it is difficult for large-scale production of the batteries due to high cost and complex manufacturing processes. Glassy sulfide electrolyte exhibits the highest lithium ion conductivity (10(-3)similar to 10(-2) S/cm at 25 degrees C) among the three electrolytes, which is close to the level of liquid organic electrolyte and meet the requirement in industrial application. However, advanced manufacturing technologies of the battery are required for the improvement of contacts at electrolyte/electrodes interface. In recent years, all-solid-state battery samples and pilot production lines are available on the market. In this review, we summarize the research progresses and production technologies of batteries based on the three solid electrolytes, and attempt to explore the commercial applications of all-solid-state lithium ion battery.