Unlocking the Future of Energy with Solid Electrolyte Batteries

**Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)** researchers are at the forefront of pioneering new battery technology aimed at enhancing the storage of renewable energy, such as solar and wind power. Understanding how these batteries fail is crucial for their development. The team has engineered a battery where **sodium ions travel through a solid electrolyte**, which is both more durable and energy-efficient than traditional liquid counterparts. Solid electrolytes represent a significant advancement in battery technology, promising to resolve intermittent energy production issues if scientists can overcome current challenges. By employing a high-energy X-ray beam at Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source, researchers observed the formation of structures within the pores of the electrolyte due to ion deposition, leading to short circuits. This observation is crucial as it provides insights into how these structures form and how to refine the performance of solid electrolytes. ORNL researcher Mengya Li hopes that this understanding will advance the renewable energy storage capabilities of these batteries.