Enhanced electrochemical performance of garnet-based solid-state lithium metal battery with modified anodic and cathodic interfaces

Due to high ionic conductivity and wide electrochemical window, the garnet solid electrolyte is considered as the most promising candidate electrolyte for solid-state lithium metal batteries. However, the high contact impedance between metallic lithium and the garnet solid electrolyte surface seriously hampers its further application. In this work, a Li-(ZnO)_x anode is prepared by the reaction of zinc oxide with metallic lithium and in situ coated on the surface of Li_6.8La₃Zr_1.8Ta_0.2O₁₂(LLZTO). The anode can be perfectly bound to the surface of LLZTO solid electrolyte, and the anode/electrolyte interfacial resistance was reduced from 2319 to 33.75 Ω·cm². The Li-(ZnO)_0.15|LLZTO|Li-(ZnO)_0.15 symmetric battery exhibits a stable Li striping/plating process during charge-discharging at a constant current density of 0.1 mA·cm^-2 for 100 h at room temperature. Moreover, a Li-(ZnO)_0.15|LLZTO-SPE|LFP full battery, comprised of a polyethylene oxide-based solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) film as an interlayer between LiFePO₄ (LFP) cathode and LLZTO solid electrolyte, presents an excellent performance at 60 ℃. The discharge capacity of the full battery reaches 140 mA·h·g^-1 at 0.1 C and the capacity attenuation is less than 3% after 50 cycles.