Adaptive Voiding Enables Interfacial Morphological Control at Low Stack Pressure in Solid-State Batteries
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Materials Science & Engineering
- 2Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- 3Department of Mechanical Engineering
- 4University of Michigan
- 5Department of Aerospace Engineering
Abstract
Solid-state batteries with alkali metal anodes offer high energy density and improved safety, but their performance is hindered by void formation at the metal-solid electrolyte interface during metal stripping, leading to impedance rise and increased probability of dendrite formation upon plating. Here, we demonstrate that low concentrations (<5 vol%) of potassium metal added to industrial-grade lithium metal creates a dispersed Na-K liquid phase that suppresses voiding and enables stable, high-capacity stripping at practical current densities and stack pressures below 1 MPa. We furthermore identify a low-frequency oscillatory impedance attributed to “adaptive voiding”—the cyclic expansion and contraction of interfacial voids arising from an interplay between void growth and lithium deformation. This behavior, revealed by cryo-PFIB imaging and electrochemical analysis, offers a diagnostic signature for evaluating interfacial stability. These findings highlight new opportunities for designing robust, high-capacity SSBs operable under realistic mechanical constraints by controlling dynamic interfacial morphologies.
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BibTeX
@misc{veeraraghavan2026adaptive,
title = {{Adaptive Voiding Enables Interfacial Morphological Control at Low Stack Pressure in Solid-State Batteries}},
author = {Vijay D Veeraraghavan and Chiung-Yuan Lo and Andrew B Li and Sriram S Murali and Cole D Fincher and Hancheng Zhao and Archie Mingze Yao and Venkatasubramanian Viswanathan and Yet-Ming Chiang},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15000881/v2},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15000881/v2},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Adaptive Voiding Enables Interfacial Morphological Control at Low Stack Pressure in Solid-State Batteries
AU - Vijay D Veeraraghavan
AU - Chiung-Yuan Lo
AU - Andrew B Li
AU - Sriram S Murali
AU - Cole D Fincher
AU - Hancheng Zhao
AU - Archie Mingze Yao
AU - Venkatasubramanian Viswanathan
AU - Yet-Ming Chiang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/16
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15000881/v2
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15000881/v2
AB - Solid-state batteries with alkali metal anodes offer high energy density and improved safety, but their performance is hindered by void formation at the metal-solid electrolyte interface during metal stripping, leading to impedance rise and increased probability of dendrite formation upon plating. Here, we demonstrate that low concentrations (<5 vol%) of potassium metal added to industrial-grade lithium metal creates a dispersed Na-K liquid phase that suppresses voiding and enables stable, high-capacity stripping at practical current densities and stack pressures below 1 MPa. We furthermore identify a low-frequency oscillatory impedance attributed to “adaptive voiding”—the cyclic expansion and contraction of interfacial voids arising from an interplay between void growth and lithium deformation. This behavior, revealed by cryo-PFIB imaging and electrochemical analysis, offers a diagnostic signature for evaluating interfacial stability. These findings highlight new opportunities for designing robust, high-capacity SSBs operable under realistic mechanical constraints by controlling dynamic interfacial morphologies.
ER -