Themed collection Editor’s Choice: Solid-state ion conductors

Solid oxide proton conductors have application in hydrogen-based energy technologies. This perspective presents an overview of the structural and mechanistic aspects of proton conduction in oxide systems outside conventional perovskite conductors.

This review article focuses on the methods to solve the critical issue of reduction in NASICON-type solid electrolytes such as Li_1+xAl_xTi_2−x(PO₄)₃ and Li_1+xAl_xGe_2−x(PO₄)₃ by Li metal.

Lithium–sulfur batteries, with a high specific capacity, low cost and environmental friendliness, could be investigated as a next-generation energy-storage system.

The review represents a comprehensive and critical analysis of the state-of-the-art knowledge on layered Ruddlesden–Popper nickelates as promising electrodes for protonic ceramic electrochemical cells.

As economically viable alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, magnesium-ion-based all-solid-state batteries have been researched to meet the criteria for an ideal energy storage device.

This review provides essential features of sulfide solid electrolytes and an in-depth explanation of the interface issues in all-solid-state lithium secondary batteries.

Stabilized bismuth vanadate thin films are presented here as superior oxide ionic conductors, for application in solid state electrochemical devices operating near room temperature.

Through molecular-dynamics simulations of rhombohedral BiFeO₃, substituent cations were identified that could optimize the oxygen diffusivity and the limits of the standard crystal-chemical approach were revealed.

Structural, computational and electrochemical investigations are combined to study the intercalation properties of tunnel-type Na_0.44MnO₂ and Cu-substituted Na_0.44MnO₂.

CeO₂-based materials have played a critical role in catalysis, where the substrate particles have reduced in size year by year due to experimental achievements in synthesis control.

Solid oxide fuel electrodes with pure GDC as the functional layer exhibit excellent kinetics, in line with mechanistic impedance modelling.

A combination of single-crystal neutron diffraction experiments at low temperature and first-principles calculations revealed that a correlated migration of the densely packed Li ions governs the overall Li-ion conduction in Li₁₀GeP₂S₁₂.

Low levels of acceptor-type dopants can introduce appreciable levels of oxide-ion conductivity into NB_0.51T due to a synergistic effect from defect chemistry and ceramic microstructure.

For the first time, the high entropy perovskites from La_1−xSr_x(Co,Cr,Fe,Mn,Ni)O_3−δ (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) series are documented to possess attractive properties as a candidate air electrode material for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs).

Cation ordering in Ba₃VWO_8.5 disrupts long-range oxygen diffusivity parallel to the c-axis resulting in reduced ionic conductivity.

Formation of nano-sized interphase layers, containing organic and inorganic species, in an interface modified Li–sulfur solid-state battery.

An A-site deficient layered perovskite PBCC95 is developed as a new oxygen electrode incorporated into a protonic ceramic electrochemical cell. The cell presents superior electrochemical performances and it can reversibly work between the electrolysis and fuel cell mode.

Among the Na_9+xSn_xM_3−xS₁₂ fast Na-ion conductors Na₁₁Sn₂MS₁₂ (M = P, Sb) is thermodynamically preferred and due to a quenchable PS₄ anion order–disorder transition its ion transport properties are controlled by the thermal history of the sample.

The performance of low-temperature solid-oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs) is heavily dependent on the electrocatalytic activity of the cathode toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).

Most solid-state electrolytes exhibit significant structural disorder, which requires careful consideration when modeling the defect energetics. Here, we model the native defect chemistry of a disordered solid electrolyte, Li₁₀GeP₂S₁₂.

A novel freeze casting technique was employed to obtain 3D porous LLZO solid-electrolyte scaffolds that were infiltrated with NMC-622 cathode material to form thick composite electrodes for all-solid-state batteries.

Lithium metal batteries are a promising candidate for future high-energy-density energy storage.

A systematic multi-doping strategy to enhance Li-ion conductivity of the garnet-type Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ by doping Ga(III) Ba(II) and Ta(V) ions into the garnet framework.

The lack of suitable candidate electrolyte materials for practical application limits the development of all-solid-state Na-ion batteries.

Strong correlations are observed between lattice distortions, thermodynamic stability, and limiting barriers for percolating ion migration in solid electrolytes.