Garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 electrolyte prepared by a solution-based technique for lithium ion battery

High quality garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 solid electrolyte was synthesized using a solution-based technique. The electrolyte pellets were sintered at 900 oC, resulting in tetragonal phase, which then transformed to cubic phase after annealing at 1230 oC. The ionic conductivity of both phases was studied and revealed to be 3.67x10-7 S/cm and 1.67×10-4 S/cm, respectively. A prototype cell comprising of Li7La3Zr2O12 electrolyte, LiCoO2 cathode and lithium metal anode was assembled. The cell made with the cubic phase electrolyte exhibited superior performance than the one made with the tetragonal phase electrolyte. The former cell possessed a very promising gravimetric discharge capacity of 3.4 mAh/g, which is the highest value obtained among similar setups.