In-situ ultra-fast sintering of 3D-printed ceramic solid-electrolyte and electrode materials for all-solid-state energy devices

The unique combination of functional properties of ceramics materials holds immense potential to revolutionize the energy sector. For instance, all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) and solid-oxide cells (SOCs) offer attractive solutions to the limitations of current lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen storage/production technologies. However, conventional ceramic manufacturing processes still rely on long (tens of hours) and energy-hungry thermal treatments (~900-1300ºC) to sinter the different ceramic components of a full device. These thermal treatments must be carefully controlled to avoid the formation of unwanted phases caused by defect formation and elemental interdiffusion.

A breakthrough was recently achieved with a method capable of sintering different ceramics of interest (>95% relative density) in mere seconds. This method, named ultrafast high-temperature sintering (UHS), employs Joule heating of two conductive carbon strips to heat the ceramic piece in between those strips rapidly. This approach reduces high-temperature exposure of the components to the timescale of seconds, offering the potential for revolutionizing industrial ceramic production by enabling faster and more energy-efficient processing while limiting the development of detrimental phases or degradation phenomena. Leveraging our in-house UHS system developed at IREC and our 3D-printing expertise, we aim to develop efficient co-sintering processes for solid-state electrolytes and electrodes for both ASSBs and SOCs. For that, we propose in-situ UHS experiments at the NCD-SWEET beamline. This will allow us to employ Grazing-Incidence Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (GIWAXS) with high time resolution (~0.2 s/spectra), we aim to unveil potential reactions between co-sintered materials and optimize fabrication parameters for achieving superior performance avoiding interfacial degradation in these next-generation energy technologies.

This work seeks to optimize UHS for co-sintering electrolytes and electrodes in next-generation energy technologies like Li- and Na-ASSBs and SOCs. In-situ experiments with advanced X-ray techniques at NCD-SWEET will shed light on material interactions and guide process optimization for enhanced performance.

陶瓷材料功能特性的独特组合，具备变革能源领域的巨大潜力。例如，全固态电池（all-solid-state batteries, ASSBs）与固体氧化物电池（solid-oxide cells, SOCs）为当前锂离子电池及储氢/制氢技术的局限提供了极具吸引力的解决方案。然而，传统陶瓷制造工艺仍依赖耗时长达数十小时、能耗极高的热处理（约900~1300℃）来烧结完整器件中的各类陶瓷组分。此类热处理需严格管控，以避免因缺陷形成与元素互扩散所引发的有害相生成。

近期，一种可在数秒内烧结目标陶瓷（相对密度＞95%）的方法实现了技术突破。该方法被命名为超高温快速烧结（ultrafast high-temperature sintering, UHS），通过对两根导电碳条施加焦耳加热，快速加热夹在其间的陶瓷试样。此方法将器件的高温暴露时长缩短至秒级，有望通过实现更快速、更节能的加工过程，同时抑制有害相生成与降解现象，从而变革工业陶瓷生产。依托IREC研发的自研UHS系统与团队的3D打印技术积累，本研究旨在开发适用于ASSBs与SOCs的固态电解质与电极的高效共烧结工艺。为此，我们计划在NCD-SWEET光束线开展原位UHS实验。借助时间分辨率达约0.2秒/谱的掠入射广角X射线散射（Grazing-Incidence Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering, GIWAXS）技术，我们将揭示共烧结材料间的潜在反应，并优化制备参数，以实现更优异的性能，同时避免此类下一代能源技术中的界面降解问题。

本研究旨在优化UHS工艺，以实现锂基、钠基全固态电池及SOCs等下一代能源技术中电解质与电极的共烧结。借助NCD-SWEET光束线的先进X射线原位实验，将阐明材料间的相互作用，并指导工艺优化以提升器件性能。