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随着传统锂离子电池的发展接近理论极限且无法满足日益增长的需求，材料科学的突破正推动更安全、能量密度更高的固态电池走向市场。全球科研团队在重大难题上取得了进展，不仅开拓了钠离子等新材料的应用，还催生了更高效的干电极制造工艺，吸引了各大国际巨头加速量产布局。

Charging ahead “充”向未来

Advances in materials science could at last bring solid-state batteries to market

材料科学的进步或许最终能将固态电池推向市场

Like any champion who spends too long at the top, the lithium-ion battery is stagnating. Over decades as the battery of choice in everything from smartphones to electric cars and drones, its design has been tweaked countless times to improve its energy density and performance. But, some scientists say, those improvements are approaching their theoretical limits. Even the best models are prone to dying out in the cold, rapidly losing capacity or— as is the case for those in household devices—spontaneously catching fire.

就像任何一位冠军如果长期处于巅峰状态，就会停滞不前一样，锂离子电池的发展也陷入了停滞。几十年来，从智能手机到电动汽车和无人机，锂离子电池一直是各种设备的首选电池，其设计经过无数次的改进，以提高能量密度和性能。但是，一些科学家表示，这些改进已经接近理论极限。即使是最好的型号，也容易在低温下失效，容量迅速下降，或者像家用电器中的电池那样，自燃。

At the same time, demand for batteries has never been greater. 30% of cars sold in 2026 are expected to be electric vehicles (EVs) which rely on them for power. Last year American homes and businesses installed a record number of big batteries. According to Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, by the end of the decade installations could rise by almost 40%. Worthy challengers are desperately needed.

与此同时，对电池的需求从未如此之高。预计到2026年，售出的汽车中将有30%是电动汽车（EV），而电动汽车需要依靠电池供电。去年，美国家庭和企业安装的大型电池数量创下历史新高。据咨询公司伍德麦肯兹（Wood Mackenzie）预测，到本十年末，电池安装量可能会增长近40%。我们迫切需要能够与之匹敌的替代产品。

Advances in materials science are at last bringing some within reach. Batterybuilders are modifying existing materials and creating novel combinations to design batteries that store more energy while being safer and more stable than anything on the market today. The lithium-ion battery’s crown may be up for grabs.

材料科学的进步终于让一些电池技术触手可及。电池制造商正在改进现有材料，并创造新的组合，以设计出比目前市面上任何电池都更安全、更稳定的高能量密度电池。锂离子电池的霸主地位或许即将易主。

Solid-state batteries are among the most exciting alternatives. When a conventional lithium-ion battery is charged, lithium ions migrate from the cathode to the anode; when it is discharged, they return. The medium the ions shuttle through is called the electrolyte, usually a flammatery’s components. In solid-state batteries, however, the anode, cathode and electrolyte are compressed together as slabs. This means more conductive materials can be packed into the same space, allowing for energy densities as high as 500 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg), compared with about 300Wh/kg for liquid electrolytes. They are also less likely to combust.

固态电池是最令人兴奋的替代方案之一。传统的锂离子电池充电时，锂离子从正极迁移到负极；放电时，它们又返回正极。离子穿梭的介质称为电解质，通常是易燃材料的成分。然而，在固态电池中，正极、负极和电解质被压缩成板状。这意味着可以在相同的空间内填充更多的导电材料，从而使能量密度高达每千克500瓦时（Wh/kg），而液态电解质的能量密度约为每千克300瓦时。此外，固态电池也更不容易燃烧。

Although solid-state batteries have been studied for decades, researchers have thus far been able to make only tiny versions for use in such devices as medical implants. The most significant barrier to scaling them up is brittleness. When cells are charged and discharged, the ions repeatedly embed themselves in the electrode material. That causes the battery to expand and contract, creating voids between the components that can lead to cracking and deformation. This slows down the ions and degrades the battery’s performance.

尽管固态电池的研究已有数十年历史，但研究人员迄今为止只能制造出用于医疗植入物等设备的微型版本。其规模化生产的最大障碍是脆性。电池在充放电过程中，离子会反复嵌入电极材料中。这会导致电池膨胀和收缩，在组件之间形成空隙，进而导致开裂和变形。这会减缓离子的运动速度，降低电池的性能。

In January researchers at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, took a big step towards overcoming the brittleness problem. They created a high-performing electrolyte material by alternately stacking layers of ceramic 1-100nm thick with similarly thin sheets of polymer. The stack was then placed perpendicularly to the surface of the electrodes, like a layer cake sitting on its side. On its own, the ceramic is a good conductor but prone to cracking. The polymer, for its part, is flexible but a poor conductor. The combination allowed ions to flow as smoothly as the best existing solid-state electrolytes, but with a much lower tendency to crack.

今年1月，中国科学院深圳先进技术研究院的研究人员在克服脆性问题方面取得了重大进展。他们通过将厚度为1-100纳米的陶瓷层与同样薄的聚合物薄片交替堆叠，制备了一种高性能成型电解质材料。然后将这种堆叠结构垂直放置在电极表面，就像一个侧放的千层蛋糕。陶瓷本身是良好的导体，但容易开裂。而聚合物则具有柔韧性，但导电性较差。这种组合使得离子能够像现有的最好的固态电解质一样顺畅地流动，但开裂的倾向却低得多。

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