In 2009,
Nippon Electric Glass and
Iwate University developed the first
thin-film lithium-ion battery on ultra‑thin glass substrate with a thickness of 30
micrometres (μm). In 2016, a glass battery was developed by
John B. Goodenough, inventor of the
lithium cobalt oxide and
lithium iron phosphate electrode materials used in the
lithium-ion battery (Li-ion), and
Maria H. Braga, an associate professor at the
University of Porto and a senior research fellow at
Cockrell School of Engineering at
The University of Texas. A number of follow-up works have been published since then.
Hydro-Québec is researching the battery for possible production.
Glass electrolyte research In September 2016 Iowa State University was granted U.S. $1.6 million to develop new lithium-ion-conducting glassy solid electrolytes. In August 2019, it was announced that
GM was awarded U.S. $2 million by the
United States Department of Energy for research into the "fundamental understanding of interfacial phenomena in solid-state batteries" and "hot pressing of reinforced all-solid-state batteries with sulfide glass electrolyte". In 2023, Nippon Electric Glass developed the first
glass-ceramic solid-state
sodium-ion battery using a glass-ceramic
solid electrolyte. Goodenough responded to the skepticism, stating: "The answer is that if the lithium plated on the
cathode current collector is thin enough for its reaction with the current collector to have its
Fermi energy lowered to that of the current collector, the Fermi energy of the lithium
anode is higher than that of the thin lithium plated on the cathode current collector." Goodenough went on to say in a later interview with
Slashdot that the lithium plated on the cathode is on the "order of a
micron thick". Goodenough's response has drawn further skepticism from Daniel Steingart and also Matthew Lacey of
Uppsala University, who point out that this
underpotential deposition effect is only known for extremely thin layers (
monolayers) of materials. Lacey also notes that the original publication does not mention a limit to the thickness of the lithium plated on the cathode, but instead states the opposite: that the capacity of the cell is "determined by the amount of alkali metal used as the anode". == Construction and electrochemistry ==