Microstructure, mechanical properties, and ionic conductivity of a solid-state electrolyte prepared using binderless laser powder bed fusion

Manipulating the microstructure of the glass–ceramic solid-state electrolyte Li 1+ x Al x Ti 2- x (PO 4 ) 3 (LATP) improves performance by enhancing ionic conductivity; however, conventional glass–ceramic processing requires multiple processing steps to successfully develop the microstructure. Laser-based additive manufacturing techniques, such as laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), offer a novel approach to single-step fabrication of glass–ceramics for battery applications. Here, we investigate the influence of L-PBF processing on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and ionic conductivity of LATP. This study demonstrates that binderless L-PBF produces relatively dense LATP samples (up to ~ 96% dense) with the desired rhombohedral crystal structure and mechanical properties consistent with conventional LATP. We find that laser scan speed influences the development of secondary phase particles, which affect the ionic conductivity. Further parameter optimization will improve the ionic conductivity of L-PBF LATP to enable single-step fabrication of LATP as a solid-state battery electrolyte using binderless laser-based additive manufacturing. Graphic abstract