Institute of Fundamental Technological Research

We report the influence of the partial substitution of Ge with Ti on the properties of NASICON Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3 (LAGP) nanofibers prepared by electrospinning. Replacing a small amount of Ge (up to 20%) with Ti is advantageous for enhancing both the purity and morphology of LAGP fibers, as observed by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. When Ti-substituted LAGP (LAGTP) fibers are used as filler to develop composite polymer electrolytes, the ionic conductivity at 20 °C improves by a factor of 1.5 compared to the plain polymer electrolyte. Additionally, above 40 °C the LAGTP fiber-based composite electrolytes were more conductive than the equivalent LAGP fiber-based one. We believe that these findings can make a substantial contribution to optimizing current methods and developing novel synthesis approaches for NASICON based electrolytes.

The goal of the present work is to identify and model the elastic-viscoplastic behavior of electrodeposited copper films under tension-compression loadings. From the experimental point of view, as proposed in the literature, a film of copper is electrodeposited on both sides of an elastic compliant substrate. The overall specimen is next subjected to tensile loading-unloadings. As the substrate remains elastic, the elastic–plastic response of copper under cyclic loading is experimentally determined. A clear kinematic hardening behavior is captured. To model the mechanical response, a new elastic-viscoplastic self-consistent scheme for polycrystalline materials is proposed. The core of the model is the tangent additive interaction law proposed in Molinari (2002). The behavior of the single grain is rate dependent where kinematic hardening is accounted for in the model at the level of the slip system. The model parameters are optimized via an evolutionary algorithm by comparing the predictions to the experimental cyclic response. As a result, the overall response is predicted. In addition, the heterogeneity in plastic strain activity is estimated by the model during cyclic loading.

electrodeposited copper, self-consistent scheme, elasto-viscoplasticity, kinematic hardening, experiments

We report the synthesis of ceramic Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3 (LAGP) nanofibers by combining sol–gel and electrospinning techniques. A homogeneous and stable precursor solution based on chlorides was achieved by controlling Ge hydrolysis. Subsequent electrospinning and heat treatment resulted in highly porous nanostructured NASICON pellets. After a full chemical-physical characterization, various amounts of LAGP nanofibers were used as a filler to develop polyethylene oxide (PEO)-based composite electrolytes. The addition of 10% LAGP nanofibers has allowed doubling the ionic conductivity of the plain polymer electrolyte, by providing longer ion-conductive paths and reducing PEO crystallinity. These findings are promising towards developing solution-based synthesis approaches featuring Ge precursors. In addition, the achieved LAGP nanofibers proved to be a promising nanofiller candidate to develop composite electrolytes for next-generation solid-state batteries.