Both safety and energy density are top performance metrics for the development of automobile batteries. All solid-state batteries are considered the most promising technology to unlock the potential in both safety and energy density for large scale energy storage applications by eliminating volatile flammable liquid solvents for an improved safety, and enabling lithium metallic anode for a higher energy density.

The fundamental barrier for current all solid-state batteries is deeply rooted in the lack of manufacturable and high-performance solid-state chemistry. Strategically, Argonne National Laboratory will tackle the problem by, (1) developing mitigation technologies to improve the electrochemical performance of manufacturable system (like halides, antiperovskites, sulfur-based super ionic conductors, single-ionic conductor polymers and composite electrolytes) (2) developing novel manufacturing technologies for low cost high-performance electrolytes like garnet oxides at scale, and (3) manipulating material components with novel morphological features.  Our technology under development is highly informed by our in-depth understanding of materials synthesis and processing science, knowledge of phenomena and behaviors at the electrolyte/electrode interfaces, apprehension of Li dendrite growth mechanistics and conditions, as well as materials scale-up and manufacturing capabilities.

By leveraging the cutting-edge characterization capability at Advanced Photon Source and the Center of Nanoscale Materials, top-notch computation power at Argonne Leadership Computing  Facility for theoretical and modelling, the Materials Engineering Research Facility for materials scale-up, as well as the unmatched expertise in electrochemical energy storage, Argonne is committed to rational design of manufacturable high performance all solid-state batteries from the bottom up.