Interfacial compatibility issues in rechargeable solid-state lithium metal batteries: a review

Solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLBs) contain various kinds of interfaces, among which the solid electrode|solid electrolyte (ED|SE) interface plays a decisive role in the battery’s power density and cycling stability. However, it is still lack of comprehensive knowledge and understanding about various interfacial physical/chemical processes so far. Although tremendous efforts have been dedicated to investigate the origin of large interfacial resistance and sluggish charge (electron/ion) transfer process, many scientific and technological challenges still remain to be clarified. In this review, we detach and discuss the critical individual challenge, including charge transfer process, chemical and electrochemical instability, space charge layers, physical contact and mechanical instability. The fundamental concepts, individual effects on the charge transfer and potential solutions are summarized based on material’s thermodynamics, electrode kinetics and mechanical effects. It is anticipated that future research should focus on quantitative analysis, modeling analysis and in-situ microstructure characterizations in order to obtain an efficient manipulation about the complex interfacial behaviors in all solid-state Li batteries.