Rapid preparation and performances of garnet electrolyte with sintering aids for solid-state Li–S battery

Abstract Lithium-sulfur (Li–S) batteries are attractive due to their high theoretical energy density. However, conventional Li–S batteries with liquid electrolytes undergo polysulfide shuttle-effect and lithium dendrite formation during charge/discharge process, leading to poor electrochemical performance and safety issues. Garnet type Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) solid-state electrolyte (SSE) restricts the penetration of polysulfides and exhibits high ionic conductivity at room temperature (RT). Herein, Li6.5La3Zr1.5Nb0.5O12 (LLZNO) ceramic electrolyte using Li3PO4 (LPO) as sintering aids (LLZNO-LPO) is prepared by the rapid sintering method and is applied to construct a shuttle-effect free solid-state Li–S battery. The SSE displays high conductive pure cubic-LLZO phase; during the rapid sintering, LPO melts and junctions the voids between the grains, thus improves Li+ conductivity. As a result, the LLZNO-LPO ceramic electrolyte with Li+ conductivity of 4.3 × 10−4 S cm−1 and high critical current density (CCD) of 1.2 mA cm−2 is obtained at RT. The Li–S solid-state battery which utilizes LLZNO-LPO ceramic electrolyte can deliver an initial discharge capacity of 943 mA h·g−1 and 602 mA h·g−1 retention after 60 cycles. In the same time, the initial coulombic efficiency is as high as 99.5%, indicating that the SSE can effectively block the polysulfide shuttle towards the Li anode and fulfill a shuttle-free Li–S battery.