We have succeeded in imparting room-temperature lithium fast-ion conductivity to a complex hydride LiBH4 by chemical modification. This study, collaborated with Assoc. Profs. H. Maekawa and H. Takamura (Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University), will lead to the developments of advanced solid-state electrolytes for high-safety lithium ion battery. The result was published in Journal of American Chemical Society (131, 894, 2009), and reported in Nikkei NET (online, January 23, 2009), Nikkan-Kougyo Shimbun (January 27, 2009).
Fig. Temperature-dependence of ionic conductivities for LiBH4 (blue), LiI (black), and 3LiBH4・LiI (red) successfully synthesized in the study.