Sintering aid mixture, solid-state ion conductor, and method for producing solid-state ion conductors
A sintering aid mixture for sintering solid-state ion conductors, electrode materials, or the like for solid-state batteries is provided. The mixture includes at least one sol-gel precursor and/or at least one sol-gel direct precursor produced from at least one sol-gel precursor.
1 . A sintering aid mixture comprising a sintering precursor selected from a group consisting of a sol-gel precursor, a sol-gel direct precursor prepared from the sol-gel precursor, and any combinations thereof to provide a sol-gel preliminary product and/or a sol-gel, wherein the sol-gel precursor comprises at least one organometallic compound selected from the group consisting of an alkoxide, an acetate, and any combination thereof, and a compact including at most 15% of the sintering aid mixture that when compacted achieves a densification at a sintering temperature at least 5% lower than the same compaction without the sintering aid mixture and has a conductivity increase of a factor of at least 1.5 as compared to the same compaction without the sintering aid mixture.
2 . The sintering aid mixture of claim 1 , wherein the sintering aid mixture is adapted for a use selected from a group consisting of a use for a solid-state ion conductor, a use for an electrode material, and a use for a solid-state battery component.
3 . The sintering aid mixture of claim 1 , wherein the sol-gel direct precursor is a powder.
4 . The sintering aid mixture of claim 3 , wherein the sol-gel direct precursor is a stoichiometric mixture of at least two sol-gel precursors.
5 . The sintering aid mixture of claim 1 , wherein the sintering precursor comprises lithium.
6 . The sintering aid mixture of claim 1 , wherein the sol-gel precursor is free of non-oxidic anions.
7 . The sintering aid mixture of claim 6 , wherein the sol-gel precursor comprises lithium acetate.
8 . The sintering aid mixture of claim 7 , wherein the sol-gel precursor further comprises a nitrate.
9 . The sintering aid mixture of claim 1 , wherein the sintering precursor has a sintering temperature selected from a group consisting of less than 1100° C., less than 1000° C., less than 900° C., less than 850° C., less than 840° C., less than 800° C., and less than 700° C.
10 . The sintering aid mixture according to claim 1 , wherein the sol-gel precursor comprises a lithium and aluminum-containing organometallic compound.