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Resistance to fracture in the glassy solid electrolyte Lipon

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  • Focus Issue: Materials Instabilities Limiting Performance of Electrochemical Systems
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Abstract

We report on the mechanical behavior of a solid Li-ion conductor, lithium phosphorous oxynitride (Lipon), for solid-state batteries. In particular, the purpose of this investigation was to quantify the resistance to cracking (fracture toughness) of this material by nanoindentation. We observed surprising ductility and the ability to recover in Lipon. We were unsuccessful in inducing cracks in Lipon and observed accommodation of stress via pile-up and densification rather than by cracking at various strain rates. Simulations demonstrate that both deformation and densification depend on the alkali content. Densification appears to be recoverable at room temperature. We discuss the findings in comparison with nanoindentation-induced cracking in other inorganic solid electrolyte materials and provide possible explanations for high resistance of Lipon to Li filament propagation.

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Acknowledgments

This research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725, was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) through the IONICS program led by Paul Albertus, Award No. DE-AR0000775 and completed with support by the U.S. Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) Advanced Battery Materials Research Program (Tien Duong, Program Manager). Alexis Flores-Betancourt and Takaaki Koyanagi are acknowledged for their expertise in setting up the equipment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computational Sciences and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831-6085, USA

    Sergiy Kalnaus

  2. Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831-6124, USA

    Andrew S. Westover & Nancy J. Dudney

  3. Robert Bosch Research and Technology Center, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Mordechai Kornbluth

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA

    Erik Herbert

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  1. Sergiy Kalnaus
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  2. Andrew S. Westover
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  3. Mordechai Kornbluth
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  4. Erik Herbert
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  5. Nancy J. Dudney
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Correspondence to Sergiy Kalnaus.

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Erik Herbert was an editor of this journal during the review and decision stage. For the JMR policy on review and publication of manuscripts authored by editors, please refer to http://www.mrs.org/editor-manuscripts/.

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Kalnaus, S., Westover, A.S., Kornbluth, M. et al. Resistance to fracture in the glassy solid electrolyte Lipon. Journal of Materials Research 36, 787–796 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-020-00098-x

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