Issue 23, 2022

Co-sputtering of lithium vanadium oxide thin films with variable lithium content to enable advanced solid-state batteries

Abstract

Advanced solid-state batteries most likely will entail aggressive structures or architectures with constraints that typically limit processing temperatures. Considering this, we have identified the importance of providing lithiated electrode materials at a modest processing temperature. Here we describe a pathway to meet this by the development of a co-sputtering process using lithium oxide and vanadium oxide targets which enables the growth of lithiated vanadium oxide (LVO) thin films for application in solid-state batteries. Analysis of the structure and film composition of samples deposited with different co-sputtering rate ratios and post-annealing shows that multiple phases of LixV2O5 likely coexist (i.e. α-, ε-, δ-, and γ-V2O5), and that this is unchanged after electrochemical cycling. The co-sputtering process can tune the lithium content up to a highly lithiated state of at least Li2V2O5. Electrochemical half-cells showed a significant amount of lithium available on the first charge (delithiation of LVO). LVO samples post-annealed at 300 °C showed typical redox peaks for LixV2O5 for both one and two lithium insertion reactions, which were highly reversible in most cases. A thin-film solid-state battery prototype using LVO as a cathode had 20% of the expected capacity, although the coulombic efficiency is near 100% at a fast rate (22C). This co-sputtering technique represents an opportunity for low temperature synthesis of pre-lithiated cathodes for thin film batteries, and introduces a broader methodology of depositing metal oxides with different alkali metal contents.

Graphical abstract: Co-sputtering of lithium vanadium oxide thin films with variable lithium content to enable advanced solid-state batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Feb 2022
Accepted
19 May 2022
First published
23 May 2022

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022,10, 12518-12531

Author version available

Co-sputtering of lithium vanadium oxide thin films with variable lithium content to enable advanced solid-state batteries

V. C. Ferrari, N. S. Kim, S. B. Lee, G. W. Rubloff and D. M. Stewart, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022, 10, 12518 DOI: 10.1039/D2TA01021F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements