Lithium-ion batteries serve as the core energy storage devices in various industries and everyday products, including smartphones, electric vehicles, and ESS (energy storage systems). However, conventional lithium-ion batteries use liquid electrolytes, posing a risk of fire or explosion when subjected to external impact or overheating.
Recent electric vehicle fire incidents have heightened concerns about their safety. As an alternative to overcome these limitations, "all-solid-state batteries"—which use non-flammable solid materials as electrolytes—are gaining attention as next-generation battery technology.
However, amorphous solid electrolytes—the core material for all-solid-state batteries—have faced limitations in analyzing lithium-ion transport mechanisms due to the irregularity of their internal structure. Consequently, performance improvements have been achieved empirically by altering electrolyte composition or compression conditions, making it difficult to systematically explain the causes of performance differences.
A research team led by Dr. Byungju Lee at the Computational Science Research Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has identified key factors governing lithium ion movement in amorphous solid electrolytes through AI-based atomic simulations. The research is published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.
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