Solid‐state batteries (SSBs) currently attract great attention as a potentially safe electrochemical high‐energy storage concept. However, several issues still prevent SSBs from outperforming today's lithium‐ion batteries based on liquid electrolytes. One major challenge is related to the design of cathode active materials (CAMs) that are compatible with the superionic solid electrolytes (SEs) of interest. This perspective, gives a brief overview of the required properties and possible challenges for inorganic CAMs employed in SSBs, and describes state‐of‐the art solutions. In particular, the issue of tailoring CAMs is structured into challenges arising on the cathode‐, particle‐, and interface‐level, related to microstructural, (chemo‐)mechanical, and (electro‐)chemical interplay of CAMs with SEs, and finally guidelines for future CAM development for SSBs are proposed.
Superionic solid electrolytes (SEs) are essential for bulk‐type solid‐state battery (SSB) applications. Multicomponent SEs are recently attracting attention for their favorable charge‐transport properties, however a thorough understanding of how configurational entropy (ΔSconf) affects ionic conductivity is lacking. Here, we successfully synthesized a series of halogen‐rich lithium argyrodites with the general formula Li5.5PS4.5ClxBr1.5‐x (0≤x≤1.5). Using neutron powder diffraction and 31P magic‐angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the S2−/Cl−/Br− occupancy on the anion sublattice was quantitatively analyzed. We show that disorder positively affects Li‐ion dynamics, leading to a room‐temperature ionic conductivity of 22.7 mS cm−1 (9.6 mS cm−1 in cold‐pressed state) for Li5.5PS4.5Cl0.8Br0.7 (ΔSconf=1.98R). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence that configurational entropy of the anion sublattice correlates with ion mobility. Our results indicate the possibility of improving ionic conductivity in ceramic ion conductors by tailoring the degree of compositional complexity. Moreover, the Li5.5PS4.5Cl0.8Br0.7 SE allowed for stable cycling of single‐crystal LiNi0.9Co0.06Mn0.04O2 (s‐NCM90) composite cathodes in SSB cells, emphasizing that dual‐substituted lithium argyrodites hold great promise in enabling high‐performance electrochemical energy storage.