Solid-state batteries are considered an important future technology: They can store more energy and are not made of flammable materials like currently common lithium batteries. Researchers at TUM and TUMint.Energy Research GmbH have now taken an important step toward improving solid-state batteries. They developed a new material made of lithium, antimony, and scandium that conducts lithium ions over 30 percent faster than any previously known material.
The team led by Prof. Thomas F. Fässler from the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry with a focus on Advanced Materials replaced part of the lithium in the lithium antimonide compound with the metal scandium. This deliberately creates gaps, so-called vacancies, in the crystal lattice of the conductor material. These gaps help the lithium ions move more easily and quickly, making the new world record possible.
Because the value is so significantly higher than that of known materials, they contacted the Chair of Technical Electrochemistry headed by Prof. Hubert Gasteiger at TUM to confirm the result. Co-author Tobias Kutsch, who conducted the further tests, noted: "Because the material also conducts electricity, this was a particular challenge, and we had to adapt our measurement methods accordingly."
Fässler sees great potential for the new material: "Our result currently represents a significant advance in basic research. By incorporating small amounts of scandium, we have discovered a new principle that could prove groundbreaking for other element combinations. A great deal of testing is still needed for application in a battery cell. We are optimistic because materials that can conduct both ions and electrons are particularly well suited as additives in electrodes. Since this could lead to promising practical applications, we have already applied for a patent for our development." In addition to the increased speed, the material also offers thermal stability and is easy to produce using proven chemical processes.
With their work, the researchers have even discovered a completely new class of substances, as lead author Jingwen Jiang, a researcher at TUMint.Energy Research GmbH, emphasizes: "Our combination consists of lithium-antimony and can easily be transferred to lithium-phosphorus. While the previous record holder was based on lithium-sulfur and required five additional elements for optimization, ours only requires scandium as an additional component. We assume that our discovery may have significance beyond this example for increasing the conductivity of other substances."
original publication
Jingwen Jiang, Tobias Kutsch, Wilhelm Klein, Manuel Botta, Anatoliy Senyshyn, Robert J. Spranger, Volodymyr Baran, Leo van Wüllen, Hubert A. Gasteiger, Thomas F. Fässler: Scandium Induced Structural Disorder and Vacancy Engineering in Li3Sb – Superior Ionic Conductivity in Li3?3xScxSbv, published in Advanced Energy Materials, 2025, 2500683
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