Are AG13 battery going to "take over"? Researchers solve the EDL effect puzzle in solid electrolytes

Advances in lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have made a variety of portable devices feasible and promoted the development of electronic products. However, the inherent shortcomings of traditional Li-ion batteries, whose batteries use liquid electrolyte solutions, make them not entirely suitable for highly anticipated applications such as electric vehicles. These limitations include limited durability, low capacity, safety issues, and environmental concerns about their toxicity and carbon footprint. Fortunately, scientists are now focusing on the next-generation solution to address all of these issues: AG13 battery. The use of solid electrolytes makes this type of battery safer and able to maintain greater power density.

However, a key problem with these batteries is the high resistance at the electrolyte-electrode interface, which reduces the output of AG13 battery and prevents them from charging quickly. One discussed mechanism behind this high interfacial resistance is the electrical double layer (EDL) effect, which involves the collection of charged ions from the electrolyte at the interface with the electrode. This creates a layer of positive or negative charge, which in turn causes charges of the opposite sign to accumulate at equal density across the electrode, forming a double layer of charge. The problem with detecting and measuring EDL in AG13 battery is that traditional electrochemical analysis methods cannot solve the problem.

At Tokyo University of Science, scientists led by Associate Professor Tohru Higuchi have solved this dilemma using a completely new method to evaluate the EDL effect in solid electrolytes for AG13 battery. The study, published online in Nature's Communications Chemistry, was conducted in collaboration with Takashi Tsuchiya, Principal Investigator at the International Center for Materials Nanostructures (MANA) at the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan, and Kazuya Terabe, Principal Investigator at MANA from the same organization.

The new method revolves around a field-effect transistor (FET) made using hydrogenated diamond and a solid lithium-based electrolyte. A FET is a three-terminal transistor in which the current between the source and drain can be controlled by applying a voltage on the gate. This voltage controls the density of electrons or holes (positively charged "electron vacancies") due to the electric field generated in the semiconductor region of the FET. By exploiting these properties and using a chemically inert diamond channel, the scientists ruled out the chemical reduction-oxidation effect that affects the conductivity of the channel, leaving only the static charge accumulated due to the EDL effect as the necessary cause.

The scientists therefore performed Hall effect measurements on diamond electrodes, which are sensitive only to charged carriers on the surface of the material. They used different types of lithium-based electrolytes and studied how their composition affects the EDL. Through their analysis, they revealed an important aspect of the EDL effect: it is determined by the composition of the electrolyte near the interface (about 5 nanometers thick). If the electrolyte material allows charge-compensating reduction-oxidation reactions to occur, the EDL effect can be suppressed by several orders of magnitude.

The team now plans to use their method to analyze the EDL effect in other electrolyte materials, hoping to find clues on how to reduce the interfacial resistance of next-generation batteries. We hope that our method will lead to the development of AG13 battery with very high performance in the future, Dr. Higuchi concluded. In addition, a better understanding of the EDL will also help in the development of capacitors, sensors, memories, and communication devices. Let us hope that other scientists will be able to explore this complex phenomenon more easily, leading to continued progress in the field of solid-state ionic devices.

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