Toward Understanding the Reactivity of Garnet-Type Solid Electrolytes with H₂O/CO₂ in a Glovebox Using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Electrochemical Methods

Chemical stability of garnet-type lithium ion conductors is one of the critical issues in their application in all-solid-state batteries. Here, we conducted quantitative analysis of impurity layers on the garnet-type solid electrolytes, Li6.5La3–xAExZr1.5–xTa0.5+xO12 (x = 0 and 0.1; AE = Ca, Sr, and Ba), by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical methods. Two complimentary XPS techniques were employed: (i) background analyses by Tougaard’s method and (ii) relative intensity analyses of La 3d/La 4d spectra to determine the surface chemical composition. XPS revealed that even after cleaning by annealing and polishing, the surface is covered by LiOH- and Li2CO3-based compounds with a thickness of 4–6 nm within 30 min as a result of the reaction with traces of H2O (<0.5 ppm) and CO2 (<5 ppm) in an Ar-filled glovebox. The sensitivity to H2O and CO2 depends on the basicity of dopants. Ba-doped solid electrolytes exhibited the thickest impurity layers compared to Sr- and Ca-doped compounds. A surface cleaning process, consisting of annealing and polishing, effectively reduces the charge-transfer resistance to 10–15 Ω cm2 because of negligible impurity layers. Highest short-circuit tolerance is obtained for a 700 °C annealed specimen (critical current density: 0.5 mA cm–2), which is possibly due to the strengthened grain boundaries by Li2CO3 among grains around its melting point.