Tailoring Solid-State Battery Performance through Computationally Tuning the Composition of LLZO-LCO Composite Cathodes

The composite cathode consisting of garnet-type solid-electrolyte Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 (LLZO) and active material LiCoO 2 (LCO) is one of the most promising solutions for the cathode design of all-solid-state lithium batteries. The transport properties of Li within the LLZO-LCO composite cathode are known to be sensitively dependent on the composition and microstructural features. This study focuses on computationally refining the performance of solid-state batteries by modifying the porosity and volume fractions of the LLZO-LCO composite cathode while considering the variations in the microstructural features. Various 2D and 3D microstructures were synthesized using a stochastic stacking particle model and the corresponding effective diffusivity of Li is calculated using a numerical homogenization method, which allows for a systematic assessment of the impact of composition on lithium transport within the microstructure. By identifying the optimal ratio between LLZO and LCO phases and porosity, this research yields crucial insights for improving the performance of solid-state batteries by tailoring the composite cathode. Figure 1: A) An example 3-dimensional microstructure with 20.3% percent vacuum (white space) and 39.25% percent LCO (yellow) and 40.45% LLZO (orange). B) The highest effective diffusivity (purple) is found when the LLZO percentage is highest. Once the vacuum percentage is 30% or higher, minimal effective diffusivity (red) is observed. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. Figure 1