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No design rules have yet been established for producing solid electrolytes with a lithium-ion conductivity high enough to replace liquid electrolytes and expand the performance and battery configuration limits of current lithium ion batteries. Taking advantage of the properties of high-entropy materials, we have designed a highly ion-conductive solid electrolyte by increasing the compositional complexity of a known lithium superionic conductor to eliminate ion migration barriers while maintaining the structural framework for superionic conduction. The synthesized phase with a compositional complexity showed an improved ion conductivity. We showed that the highly conductive solid electrolyte enables charge and discharge of a thick lithium-ion battery cathode at room temperature and thus has potential to change conventional battery configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid solutions of Sn-Si derivatives with an LGPS (Li10GeP2S12)-type structure are synthesized by a solid-state reaction in the Li3PS4-Li4SnS4-Li4SiS4 quasi-ternary system. The monophasic region of the LGPS-type structure deviates from the tie line between Li10SiP2S12 and Li10SnP2S12, and the composition of the solid solution is determined to be -0.1 ≤ δ ≤ 0.5 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 1.0 in Li10+δ[SnySi1-y]1+δP2-δS12 (0.50 ≤ x ≤ 0.7 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 1.0 in Li4-x[SnySi1-y]1-xPxS4). The solid solution is formed by a double substitution that changes the Sn/Si ratio and the M4+ (Sn4+ and Si4+)/P5+ ratio, which adjusts the sizes of the lithium conduction tunnels and the lithium concentration, and contributes to the optimal conductivity value. The highest ionic conductivity value of 1.1 × 10-2 S cm-1 is achieved for the composition of Li10.35[Sn0.27Si1.08]P1.65S12 (Li3.45[Sn0.09Si0.36]P0.55S4) at 298 K, which is close to the value for the original LGPS compound (1.2 × 10-2 S cm-1). The Ge-free solid electrolyte could be suitable for practical applications in all-solid-state batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]