Forty years of research on solid metallic lithium batteries: an interview with Liquan Chen

Li-ion batteries were first commercialized by Sony in 1991 and have been used widely in portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and grid applications. Although Li-ion batteries have achieved a phenomenon commercial success and become so pervasive and indispensable in our modern life, their development has been sluggish and fallen way behind the rapid advancement of electronic technologies. Batteries with a higher energy density than Li-ion batteries are highly desired for many emerging applications. It is widely recognized that solid metallic lithium batteries (SMLBs) are one of the most promising candidate technologies. The first research on SMLBs was reported by Michel Armand in 1978. At almost the same time, Liquan Chen studied lithium-ion conductors in Germany with Werner Weppner in 1977. When he came back to China in 1978, he initiated and pioneered the research on SMLBs and related fundamental studies of solid-state ionics in China for the first time. In this interview, Prof. Chen reviews his work of the past 40 years in solid lithium batteries and lithium-ion batteries, and the renaissance and future prospects of SMLBs.