Role of Areal Capacity in Determining Short Circuiting of Sulfide-Based Solid-State Batteries

Solid-state batteries (SSBs) with lithium metal anodes offer higher specific energy than conventional lithium-ion batteries, but they must utilize areal capacities >3 mAh cm^-2 and cycle at current densities >3 mA cm^-2 to achieve commercial viability. Substantial research effort has focused on increasing the rate capabilities of SSBs by mitigating detrimental processes such as lithium filament penetration and short circuiting. Less attention has been paid to understanding how areal capacity impacts lithium plating/stripping behavior in SSBs, despite the importance of areal capacity for achieving high specific energy. Here, we investigate and quantify the relationships among areal capacity, current density, and plating/stripping stability using both symmetric and full-cell configurations with a sulfide solid-state electrolyte (Li₆PS₅Cl). We show that unstable deposition and short circuiting readily occur at rates much lower than the measured critical current density when a sufficient areal capacity is passed. A systematic study of continuous plating under different electrochemical conditions reveals average "threshold capacity" values at different current densities, beyond which short circuiting occurs. Cycling cells below this threshold capacity significantly enhances cell lifetime, enabling stable symmetric cell cycling at 2.2 mA cm^-2 without short circuiting. Finally, we show that full cells with LiNi_0.8Mn_0.1Co_0.1O₂ also exhibit threshold capacity behavior, but they tend to short circuit at lower current densities and areal capacities. Our results quantify the effects of transferred capacity and demonstrate the importance of using realistic areal capacities in experiments to develop viable solid-state batteries.