Solid-State Battery Interfacial Phenomena

Solid-state batteries rely on solid electrolytes to conduct ions between electrodes, promising improved safety and energy density relative to liquid-electrolyte systems. However, interfaces formed between electrodes and solid electrolytes often give rise to high interfacial resistance, mechanical mismatch and chemical instability. Interfacial reactions can generate passivation layers, space-charge regions and microstructural heterogeneities that impede ion transport and promote dendrite formation. Advances in imaging and spectroscopy have revealed dynamic processes at the nanoscale, including the nucleation of interphase species, evolution of microcracks and diffusion pathways within grains and across grain boundaries. Engineering stable, low-impedance interfaces through tailored surface coatings, buffer layers and controlled mechanical conformity is central to unlocking high-rate performance and long-term cyclability. Understanding the coupled electrochemical, mechanical and transport phenomena at these interfaces is therefore indispensable for the design of next-generation all-solid-state battery architectures with global impact in electrification and grid storage.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have employed non-invasive spectroscopic and microscopic techniques to quantify interfacial ion transport and its degradation over cycling. Two-dimensional lithium-exchange NMR has been applied to probe the spontaneous movement of lithium ions across realistic electrode–electrolyte junctions, revealing that interfacial conductivity depends critically on electrode preparation methods and can decay sharply after only a few cycles due to loss of contact and increased diffusion barriers. Complementary operando electron energy-loss spectroscopy with sparse coding has enabled time-resolved imaging of lithium-ion migration within composite electrode domains during charge and discharge. These dynamic visualisations have elucidated ion extraction pathways, domain-boundary diffusion and residual motion under open-circuit conditions, offering mechanistic guidance for interface design and surface-modification strategies.

Research from all publishers

A 2023 interdisciplinary review has synthesised electrochemical and advanced analytical approaches to evaluate the bulk and interfacial properties of solid electrolytes, highlighting synchrotron tomography, secondary-ion mass spectrometry and machine-learning-accelerated screening as powerful tools for elucidating failure mechanisms and guiding material discovery. A 2022 study on lithium–sulfur solid-state cells used density functional theory and machine-learning interatomic potentials to map the thermodynamic stability and ion-diffusion barriers at cathode–electrolyte interfaces, identifying sulfide chemistries as both compatible buffers and low-barrier pathways for Li transport. Another 2022 investigation demonstrated the role of electronic passivation layers in stabilising the solid-electrolyte interphase, showing that controlled formation of electronically insulating films can suppress parasitic reactions and enhance interfacial longevity. Together, these works underscore the importance of combined experimental and computational strategies in tailoring interfaces for robust, high-performance solid-state batteries.

Solid-State Battery Interfacial Phenomena publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in solid-state battery interfacial phenomena across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Solid electrolyte: A non-liquid ionically conductive material separating electrodes in a solid-state battery.

Interphase: The chemically altered region formed at the electrode–electrolyte interface during cell operation.

Ionic conductivity: A measure of a material’s ability to conduct charged ions under an electric field.

Interfacial resistance: Impedance to ion transport arising at the junction between two dissimilar materials.

Operando: Real-time measurement under actual operating conditions of a device.

Dendrite: Needle-like metal deposits that can grow across the electrolyte and cause short circuits.

References

1. Evaluation of solid electrolytes: Development of conventional and interdisciplinary approaches. Interdisciplinary Materials (2023).
2. Dynamic imaging of lithium in solid-state batteries by operando electron energy-loss spectroscopy with sparse coding. Nature Communications (2020).
3. Thermodynamics and Kinetics of the Cathode–Electrolyte Interface in All-Solid-State Li–S Batteries. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2022).
4. Role of Electronic Passivation in Stabilizing the Lithium- Li x PO y N z Solid-Electrolyte Interphase. PRX Energy (2022).