Challenges and Opportunities for All-Solid-State Batteries: A Technology Analysis

D Since Sony first commercialized lithium-ion batteries in 1991, most lithium-ion batteries have been based on liquid electrolytes. These batteries are currently the technology of choice for electric vehicles and stationary energy storage, even though other technologies are emerging in laboratories and even on the market (sodium-ion, zinc-ion, hydrogen batteries, etc.). Current research is focused on improving the storage capacity, charging speed, battery life, and safety of lithium-ion batteries by developing new positive and negative electrode materials. The electrolyte plays a crucial role in battery longevity, as the number of charge and discharge cycles is often limited by problems at the electrode-electrolyte interface. In addition, current lithium-ion batteries have safety issues, mainly because they are mostly composed of a flammable organic liquid electrolyte. One possible alternative would be to replace these liquid electrolytes with non-flammable inorganic solid electrolytes.

These solid electrolyte batteries, commonly referred to as all-solid-state batteries, represent a major technological advance in the field of electrochemical energy storage. By replacing the conventional liquid electrolyte with a solid electrolyte, these batteries introduce a fundamental breakthrough in cell architecture.

This substitution significantly improves the safety, energy density, and thermal stability of electrochemical devices, thereby meeting the growing demand for energy storage in electric vehicles, portable devices, and stationary systems .

This article aims to explore the current state and prospects of this emerging technology, which is attracting considerable interest in the field of electrochemical energy storage.