Towards Understanding Reactivity of Garnet-type Solid Electrolytes with H2O/CO2 in a Glovebox Using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Electrochemical Methods.

Chemical stability of garnet-type lithium ion conductors is one of critical issues on their application in all-solid-state batteries. Here, we conducted quantitative analysis of impurity layers on the garnet-type solid electrolytes, Li6.5La3-xAExZr1.5-xTa0.5+xO12 (x = 0, 0.1; AE = Ca, Sr, Ba), by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical methods. Two complimentary XPS techniques were employed: (i) background analyses by Tougaard's method and (ii) relative intensity analyses of La 3d/La 4d spectra to determine the surface chemical composition. XPS revealed that even after cleaning by annealing and polishing, the surface is covered by LiOH and Li2CO3 based compounds with a thickness of 4-6 nm within 30 min as a result of reaction with trace of H2O (< 0.5 ppm) and CO2 (< 5 ppm) in an Ar-filled glovebox. The sensitivity to H2O and CO2 depends on basicity of dopants. Ba-doped solid electrolytes exhibited the thickest impurity layers compared to Sr and Ca-doped compounds. A surface cleaning process, consisting of annealing and polishing, effectively reduce the charge transfer resistance to 10-15 Ω cm2 because of negligible impurity layers. Highest short-circuit tolerance is obtained for a 700°C annealed specimen (critical current density: 0.5 mA cm-2), which is possibly due to strengthened grain boundaries by Li2CO3 among grains around its melting point.