Challenges and Strategies towards Practically Feasible Solid-State Lithium Metal Batteries

Remarkable improvement of the ionic conductivity of inorganic solid electrolytes (SEs) exceeding 10 mS cm(-1) at room temperature has opened up the opportunities to realize the commercialization of solid-state batteries (SSBs). The transition to the intrinsically inflammable SEs also promises that SSBs would successfully utilize lithium metal anode thus achieving the high-energy-density lithium metal batteries without the risk of a safety hazard. However, the practical operation of solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) still faces the challenges of the poor cycle stability and the low energy efficiency, which are coupled with the interface stability and even with the dendrite growth of lithium metal. This article overviews current understandings regarding the underlying origins of the issues in employing the lithium metal anode in SSLMBs from the five main standpoints: i) the chemical/electrochemical interfacial stability, ii) the microscopic evolution of interfacial morphology, iii) the intrinsic diffusivity of lithium atom/vacancy at the interface, iv) imperfections (defect/pores), and v) non-negligible electronic conductivity of SEs. The discussions are followed on the state-of-the-art efforts and strategies to overcome these respective challenges. Finally, the authors provide their perspectives for the future research directions toward achieving the commercial level of high-energy SSLMBs.