Although most commercial rechargeable batteries are prepared by bulk and powder processing methods, vapor deposition of materials has led to important advances for fundamental research, modification of battery materials and interfaces, and also for commercialization of thin film batteries.  Each of these areas will be illustrated with our recent studies of thin film materials for electrolyte, anode, and cathode components of rechargeable lithium and lithium-ion batteries.The sputter-deposited thin film electrolyte known as Lipon is a glassy material with the required lithium ion conductivity and electrochemical stability.  When used in a typical thin film battery device, the electrolyte is typically about 1 micrometer thick.  Recent investigations are using a much thinner Lipon coating to promote greater stability and cycle life for a variety of intercalation cathodes and anodes. Work is underway to determine the composition and transport properties of the nanometer thin Lipon films.Many of the lithium compounds that are commonly used as lithium intercalation electrodes can be prepared as thin films.   For research purposes, such materials are extremely useful.  By forming single phase electrodes, the intrinsic stability with liquid electrolytes can be determined.  Also planar structures facilitate investigation of the lithium intercalation kinetics and the phase transitions with a range of techniques.   Successful development of a stable metallic lithium anode is required to advance chemistries such as Li-air and Li-S, yet it has remained a challenge to control the morphology of the lithium, preventing side reactions and dendrite formation. Physical or electrochemical deposition of lithium as thin films is advantageous to produce clean interfaces and dense and thin anode layers. Acknowledgement.   Research sponsored by the Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy.

Exploring battery chemistry using thin film materials

245th National Meeting (2013)

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