Local electronic structure variation resulting in Li 'filament' formation within solid electrolytes.

Solid electrolytes hold great promise for enabling the use of Li metal anodes. The main problem is that during cycling, Li can infiltrate along grain boundaries and cause short circuits, resulting in potentially catastrophic battery failure. At present, this phenomenon is not well understood.

Interfacial Reactions and Performance of LiLaZrO-Stabilized Li-Sulfur Hybrid Cell.

Herein, we report on the characterization of a Li-S hybrid cell containing a garnet solid electrolyte (LiLaZrO, LLZO) and conventional liquid electrolyte. While the liquid electrolyte provided ionically conductive pathways throughout the porous cathode, the LLZO acted as a physical barrier to protect the Li metal anode and prevent polysulfide shuttling during battery operation. This hybrid cell exhibited an initial capacity of 1000 mAh/g and high Coulombic efficiency (>99%).

Crystal Orientation-Dependent Reactivity of Oxide Surfaces in Contact with Lithium Metal.

Understanding ionic transport across interfaces between dissimilar materials and the intrinsic chemical stability of such interfaces is a fundamental challenge spanning many disciplines and is of particular importance for designing conductive and stable solid electrolytes for solid-state Li-ion batteries. In this work, we establish a surface science-based approach for assessing the intrinsic stability of oxide materials in contact with Li metal. Through a combination of experimental and computational insights, using Nb-doped SrTiO (Nb/STO) single crystals as a model system, we were able to understand the impact of crystallographic orientation and surface morphology on the extent of the chemical reactions that take place between surface Nb, Ti, and Sr upon reaction with Li.

Interfacial Stability of Li Metal-Solid Electrolyte Elucidated via in Situ Electron Microscopy.

Despite their different chemistries, novel energy-storage systems, e.g., Li-air, Li-S, all-solid-state Li batteries, etc.

Nanoscience of an ancient pigment.

We describe monolayer nanosheets of calcium copper tetrasilicate, CaCuSi(4)O(10), which have strong near-IR luminescence and are amenable to solution processing methods. The facile exfoliation of bulk CaCuSi(4)O(10) into nanosheets is especially surprising in view of the long history of this material as the colored component of Egyptian blue, a well-known pigment from ancient times.