Electrolyte Lubricants for Solid-State Batteries

Here, we translate the concept of lubrication into an electrolyte-lubrication strategy for SSBs. We design a solvation-tailored electrolyte lubricant, termed ACE (aggregate cluster electrolyte), in which spatially structured ion-pair clusters direct interphase formation.

In ACE, molecular-orbital reconfiguration within Li⁺–anion clusters favors the growth of a thin, electronically insulating, inorganic-rich solid–liquid electrolyte interphase (SLEI) on sulfide electrolytes, mitigating their intrinsic instability. The fluid ACE infiltrates interparticle voids, forming percolating Li⁺-conduction networks and facilitating dynamic reconstruction of the solid–electrolyte interphase during cycling.