Residual Compressive Stress to Prevent Dendrite Penetration through Solid Electrolytes

The use of lithium (Li) or sodium (Na) metal anodes together with highly ion-conductive solid electrolytes (SEs) could provide batteries with a step improvement in volumetric and gravimetric energy densities. Unfortunately, these SEs face significant technical challenges, in large part because Li and Na dendrites can penetrate through SEs, leading to short circuits. We discuss our proposed concept for preventing penetration of lithium dendrites through SEs by putting the SE surfaces into a state of residual compressive stress. We describe quantum and MD calculations, together with ion exchange experiments to demonstrate our progress.