A research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has discovered a material class with above-average conductivity. This is a decisive step forward in the development of high-performance solid-state batteries. Investigations conducted at the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) made an essential contribution to the discovery.
"But in practice the solid-state electrolytes available up to now, mostly oxidic ceramics or compounds based on sulfur, have proven unable to completely meet expectations," says Prof. Thomas Fässler of the TUM Professorship for Inorganic Chemistry with Focus on New Materials. Together with his team and in close cooperation with TUMint·Energy Research GmbH, he is looking for more efficient electrolytes: "The problem is that lithium ions only diffuse slowly through solid materials. Our objective was to better understand ion transport and then to use this knowledge to increase conductivity."