Engineers Develop New Lithium-Aluminium Alloy Electrodes for Better Battery Performance

Battery Development Breakthrough Alloy Structure Sets Benchmark for Faster, Longer-Lasting Solid-State Batteries

2025-11-07 Source: University of California 2 min Reading Time

Related Vendor

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new design approach for lithium-aluminum alloy electrodes that could dramatically boost the performance and lifespan of solid-state batteries.

Microscope images and schematic illustrations of a lithium-aluminum alloy electrode with enhanced lithium diffusion pathways. (Source: Yuju Jeon) — Microscope images and schematic illustrations of a lithium-aluminum alloy electrode with enhanced lithium diffusion pathways.
(Source: Yuju Jeon)

A team co-led by engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed a new design strategy for metal alloy negative electrodes that could significantly improve the performance and durability of next-generation solid-state batteries. The work could help advance the path toward practical, high-performance energy storage for electric vehicles.

The team focused on negative electrodes made of lithium-aluminum alloy. They studied how lithium ions move through different phases of the material — a lithium-rich “beta” phase and lithium-poor “alpha” phase — and how these phases influence the battery’s performance. By adjusting the ratio of lithium to aluminum, the researchers were able to control the distribution of the alloy’s beta phase.

The researchers found that increasing the proportion of the beta phase significantly enhanced the movement of lithium within the metal alloy — it provided pathways for lithium ions to diffuse up to ten billion times faster than through the alpha phase. The beta phase also led to denser, more stable electrode structures and enhanced channels of lithium diffusion between the electrode and solid electrolyte.

In tests, batteries with beta phase-enriched lithium-aluminum alloy electrodes demonstrated high charge-discharge rates and maintained capacity over 2,000 cycles.

This is the first study to establish a correlation between the distribution of the beta phase and lithium diffusion behavior in lithium-aluminum alloys, the researchers noted. The findings could guide the design of future alloy-based electrodes with higher energy density, faster charge times and longer lifespans.

The study, published in Nature Communications, was led by UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering researchers Zheng Chen and Yuju Jeon. Study collaborators include researchers at UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and LG Energy Solution. This work was supported by LG Energy Solution — U.C. San Diego Frontier Research Laboratory.

Original Article: Lithium diffusion-controlled Li-Al alloy negative electrode for all-solid-state battery; Nature Communications; DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-64386-y

(ID:50620357)

Subscribe to the newsletter now

Don't Miss out on Our Best Content

Business E-mail

Please enter a valid mailadress.

By clicking on „Subscribe to Newsletter“ I agree to the processing and use of my data according to the consent form (please expand for details) and accept the Terms of Use. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. The consent declaration relates, among other things, to the sending of editorial newsletters by email and to data matching for marketing purposes with selected advertising partners (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, Meta)

Date: 08.12.2025

Naturally, we always handle your personal data responsibly. Any personal data we receive from you is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. For detailed information please see our privacy policy.

Consent to the use of data for promotional purposes

I hereby consent to Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planck-Str. 7-9, 97082 Würzburg including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG (hereafter: Vogel Communications Group) using my e-mail address to send editorial newsletters. A list of all affiliated companies can be found here

Newsletter content may include all products and services of any companies mentioned above, including for example specialist journals and books, events and fairs as well as event-related products and services, print and digital media offers and services such as additional (editorial) newsletters, raffles, lead campaigns, market research both online and offline, specialist webportals and e-learning offers. In case my personal telephone number has also been collected, it may be used for offers of aforementioned products, for services of the companies mentioned above, and market research purposes.

Additionally, my consent also includes the processing of my email address and telephone number for data matching for marketing purposes with select advertising partners such as LinkedIn, Google, and Meta. For this, Vogel Communications Group may transmit said data in hashed form to the advertising partners who then use said data to determine whether I am also a member of the mentioned advertising partner portals. Vogel Communications Group uses this feature for the purposes of re-targeting (up-selling, cross-selling, and customer loyalty), generating so-called look-alike audiences for acquisition of new customers, and as basis for exclusion for on-going advertising campaigns. Further information can be found in section “data matching for marketing purposes”.

In case I access protected data on Internet portals of Vogel Communications Group including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG, I need to provide further data in order to register for the access to such content. In return for this free access to editorial content, my data may be used in accordance with this consent for the purposes stated here. This does not apply to data matching for marketing purposes.

Right of revocation

I understand that I can revoke my consent at will. My revocation does not change the lawfulness of data processing that was conducted based on my consent leading up to my revocation. One option to declare my revocation is to use the contact form found at https://contact.vogel.de. In case I no longer wish to receive certain newsletters, I have subscribed to, I can also click on the unsubscribe link included at the end of a newsletter. Further information regarding my right of revocation and the implementation of it as well as the consequences of my revocation can be found in the data protection declaration, section editorial newsletter.