Solid Oxide Batteries May Enter Mass Production Earlier Than Expected

Solid-state electrolytes are the core materials that affect the safety and energy density of solid-state batteries. For a long time, the production capacity of oxide solid-state electrolytes in China has generally remained at the level of hundreds of tons. This is due to problems such as poor process stability, low yield, and high costs. There has been no significant breakthrough in scale.

Now, oxide electrolytes have witnessed a significant increase in production capacity. In May this year, the annual production line of oxide solid-state electrolytes with a capacity of 10,000 tons was put into operation in Lichang, Jiangsu Province. This is the first time in China that the production capacity of this type of material has been increased from the hundreds of tons level to the 10,000 tons level, marking a crucial step towards the large-scale production of core materials for solid-state batteries.

In addition, manufacturers such as Ruiyi New Materials and Xin Yuanbang Technology have already or will achieve the construction of a production capacity of 1,000 tons of oxide electrolytes this year.

As one of the three mainstream electrolyte systems for solid-state batteries, oxide electrolytes are based on inorganic oxide materials and replace traditional liquid electrolytes to achieve lithium ion conduction. Industry insiders say that the representative materials of oxide electrolytes include lithium lanthanum titanium oxide (LLTO), lithium phosphate aluminum lithium (LATP), and lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide (LLZO), with room-temperature ionic conductivity reaching 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻³ S/cm. Through doping modification, some systems have approached the level of existing mainstream liquid electrolytes.

Due to its advantages such as strong thermal stability, outstanding safety, and good compatibility for mass production, oxide solid-state batteries have a relatively rapid commercialization process. Especially, they have become the core choice for the large-scale installation of current solid-liquid hybrid batteries. Solid-state battery manufacturers such as Qingta Energy, Enli Power, Weilan New Energy, and Hui Neng Technology, whose solid-liquid hybrid batteries currently mainly use oxide electrolytes, are also actively promoting the mass production of all-solid-state batteries.

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Production capacity has increased from "thousands" to "ten thousands"

Since the beginning of this year, the industrialization progress of solid-liquid hybrid batteries in China has been accelerating continuously. Dongguan Securities pointed out that solid-liquid hybrid batteries have entered the stage of small-scale mass production, and the oxide electrolyte route is currently the mainstream choice. Currently, many vehicle manufacturers are accelerating the verification of oxide solid-liquid hybrid batteries for vehicle installation.

At the beginning of this year, Dongfeng Motor completed the winter test of the oxide and polymer composite solid-liquid hybrid battery, which was installed in the Dongfeng Yi Pai 007 model. The battery energy density reached 350Wh/kg, and the CLTC driving range exceeded 1000 kilometers. It is planned to achieve vehicle installation this year. Guangqi Group's oxide solid-state battery has an energy density of 400Wh/kg, and it will start small-scale vehicle installation verification for high-end models such as Haopihao HT in 2026.

"Although the energy density upper limit of oxide solid-state batteries cannot reach that of sulfide solid-state batteries, it can still reach up to 450Wh/kg, which is a significant improvement compared to the current highest energy density of liquid batteries." A representative from Dongfeng Motor pointed out, and the process difficulty of oxide solid-state batteries has also significantly decreased, so the oxide system has earlier demonstrated the possibility of achieving technological breakthroughs and mass production.

In the material sector, many enterprises are also simultaneously advancing the construction of oxide solid-state electrolyte production lines.

"At this stage, oxide should be relatively mature, with cost and industrialization feasibility being relatively high. This is the reason why we currently focus on oxide in mass production," said Song Guotian, the executive vice president of Ruixin New Materials, during the "Green Leadership · Integration Innovation - 2026 New Energy Battery Industry Chain Research" event conducted by Battery China Network.

According to Song Guotian, Ruixin New Materials is currently focusing on the LATP oxide solid-state electrolyte niche market and has built the first thousand-ton oxide solid-state electrolyte production line in Hubei Province. The product's ionic conductivity reached 7×10⁻⁴S/cm, and the electrochemical window was close to 5V. At the same time, relying on unique modification technology, it can customize tailored solutions for different application scenarios such as positive electrodes, separators, and cell cores, meeting diverse customer needs.

Wang Min, the director of the General Office of Blue Solid New Energy, introduced to Battery China that the company has pioneered multiple solid-state electrolyte products and currently has a comprehensive annual production capacity of nearly 60,000 tons. Among them, the 10,000-ton oxide solid-state electrolyte production line was put into operation in May this year. Currently, the company has gradually acquired the ability to customize and provide various solid-liquid hybrid and all-solid-state electrolyte overall solutions for customers through resource integration and independent research and development.

In addition, according to Xinzoubang, its equity partner, Xinyuanbang Technology, has built a research and production capacity covering mainstream technical routes such as oxide, sulfide, and polymer. "Among them, oxide electrolyte technology maturity and industrialization progress are the most advanced, and it has achieved batch production and sales. In 2026, the company will start a thousand-ton production capacity and gradually expand to a ten-thousand-ton level."

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The technology still needs to be continuously improved.

The oxide solid-state electrolyte has significant safety advantages. Industry analysts point out that this material has high mechanical strength and excellent thermal stability. Its thermal decomposition temperature exceeds 400°C, and it maintains its structure under ultra-high temperature conditions, significantly reducing the risk of thermal runaway in the battery cell. At the same time, the oxide electrolyte can effectively inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites, further enhancing the safety margin of the battery. It can be well compatible with high-voltage positive electrodes, which is conducive to further increasing the battery's energy density.

The test data of battery industry enterprises also confirm the application value of the oxide technology route. Penghui Energy disclosed that the oxide route battery energy density of their laboratory can currently reach over 400Wh/kg, with outstanding performance advantages in a wide temperature range. Del Co. stated that their oxide solid-state battery has high safety and has passed third-party testing institutions' puncture, heating and overcharging tests, as well as UN38.3 certification required for international shipping and land transportation of lithium batteries.

Although the industrialization process is currently leading, the oxide electrolyte system still has inherent shortcomings. Industry analysts point out that compared with the sulfide electrolyte route, the ionic conductivity of the oxide electrolyte is lower, and the impedance at the solid-solid interface is higher. Interface side reactions are prone to cause battery capacity degradation, and the interface contact between the electrolyte and the positive electrode material is not ideal.

Overall, the implementation of a ten-thousand-ton production line for oxide solid-state electrolytes has broken through the key bottleneck in the supply of upstream materials for solid-liquid hybrid batteries. While all-solid-state batteries still need to continuously overcome interface and process challenges, oxide will continue to develop in parallel with multiple technology routes such as sulfide and polymer, jointly promoting the iterative upgrade of next-generation battery power.