Institutional development · Research, innovation and assessment · Japan
KEK and Kyoto University team lifts LATP solid electrolyte conductivity about tenfold
Researchers at Japan's KEK and Kyoto University report that adding samarium oxide to the low-cost LATP solid electrolyte raised its ionic conductivity roughly tenfold, a step towards cheaper all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries.
Why it matters: Battery materials researchers working on LATP solid electrolytes gain a reported method that raised ionic conductivity about tenfold over unmodified LATP.
According to Kyoto University, a joint group including researchers from KEK (the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization) Institute of Materials Structure Science and Kyoto University's Graduate School of Energy Science found a way to raise the ionic conductivity of the solid electrolyte LATP by about ten times.
The team added samarium oxide as a sintering additive and heat-treated the material at 1000°C, which the university said tuned its microstructure and crystal structure and markedly improved conductivity at the interfaces between particles.
Using combined neutron and X-ray diffraction, the researchers found that the additive reacts to form SmPO4 and LiTiOPO4 phases, promoting finer LATP and changing its lithium content, the university reported.
The findings were published online in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Applied Energy Materials on 28 October 2026 (US time).
Editor’s view
Scott James, Research and Innovation Editor
For researchers pursuing low-cost all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries, the reported tenfold conductivity gain addresses what the team describes as LATP's main shortfall, insufficient ionic conductivity, despite its cheap raw materials and production.
