Scientists in South Korea have achieved a significant breakthrough in solid-state battery technology, enhancing both safety and power through a clever internal structural redesign. This innovation, spearheaded by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), boosts battery performance up to four times using inexpensive materials.
This development points towards safer and more affordable power solutions for electric vehicles and smartphones. Today’s conventional lithium-ion batteries, while ubiquitous, carry inherent drawbacks including high manufacturing costs and a persistent risk of fires or explosions, as detailed by the U.S. Department of Energy.
For years, all-solid-state batteries have been hailed as a safer, next-generation alternative. However, their widespread adoption has been hampered by the intricate challenge of balancing safety, performance, and cost-effectiveness in a single package, a problem often highlighted by publications like MIT Technology Review.
A recent research team in South Korea, as reported by ScienceDaily on January 9, 2026, has demonstrated that substantial battery performance improvements are attainable through intelligent structural design alone. This approach bypasses the need for costly metals, making the technology more viable for industrial application.
Why solid electrolytes offer safety, but face hurdles
Traditional lithium-ion batteries rely on a liquid electrolyte to facilitate the movement of lithium ions between electrodes. All-solid-state batteries, by contrast, replace this volatile liquid with a solid electrolyte. This significantly improves safety by mitigating risks of leakage and thermal runaway.
This fundamental shift is a major step forward in battery design. Despite their safety advantages, solid electrolytes present a challenge: lithium ions typically move much more slowly through solid materials than through liquids.
Past research efforts to accelerate this movement often involved expensive metals or complex manufacturing processes. Such approaches drove up cost and complexity, hindering commercial appeal. Finding a way to enhance ion mobility without these added expenses was crucial.
A crystal chemistry approach for enhanced performance
To overcome the inherent sluggishness of ion movement in solids, the KAIST research team, led by Professor Dong-Hwa Seo, focused on improving the pathways for lithium ions. Their innovative strategy centered on incorporating “divalent anions,” such as oxygen and sulfur, directly into the electrolyte’s crystal structure.
These elements become integral to the material’s framework, profoundly influencing ion mobility. Applying this concept to low-cost zirconium (Zr)-based halide solid electrolytes, the team precisely adjusted the internal structure by carefully introducing these divalent anions. This method is termed the “Framework Regulation Mechanism.”
The “Framework Regulation Mechanism” expands available pathways for lithium ions. It simultaneously reduces the energy barrier required for their movement. Consequently, ions can traverse the solid material with greater speed and efficiency, making the battery more responsive.
Advanced analytical methods confirmed the success of these structural modifications. These included High-energy Synchrotron X-ray diffraction (Synchrotron XRD) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) modeling. The tools provided detailed insights into how the crystal structure changed.
Crucially, they showed how these changes directly facilitated faster lithium-ion transport. Testing revealed impressive results: the addition of oxygen or sulfur to the electrolyte boosted lithium-ion mobility by two to four times compared to conventional zirconium-based electrolytes.
The oxygen-doped electrolyte achieved an ionic conductivity of approximately 1.78 mS/cm at room temperature. Meanwhile, the sulfur-doped version reached about 1.01 mS/cm. Values above 1 mS/cm are generally considered sufficient for practical battery applications.
This underscores the breakthrough’s real-world potential for various devices. “Through this research, we have presented a design principle that can simultaneously improve the cost and performance of all-solid-state batteries using cheap raw materials. Its potential for industrial application is very high,” stated Professor Dong-Hwa Seo.
Lead author Jae-Seung Kim further emphasized that this study marks a significant shift in battery research. It moves attention away from reliance on costly components towards smarter, more efficient structural design, fostering a new direction for innovation in energy storage.
This structural innovation offers a clear path to developing next-generation batteries that are not only safer and more powerful but also economically viable. The implications extend across various sectors, promising cheaper and more reliable power sources for consumer electronics, sustainable energy storage, and, most notably, the burgeoning electric vehicle market.
Such advancements will significantly accelerate the global transition to a greener future, making high-performance, safe battery technology accessible to a broader range of applications and users worldwide.
