Pressure-regulated mechanochemistry at lithium metal-sulfide electrolyte interfaces

Abstract

Stack pressure is commonly treated as a means of maintaining physical contact in all-solid-state lithium-metal batteries, but it can also alter the chemistry of reactive solid-solid interfaces. Here, using pressure-aware, charge-resolved machine-learning molecular dynamics validated against DFT, we determine how pressure magnitude and loading geometry regulate interphase formation at Li||Li6PS5Cl interfaces. The response is nonmonotonic: compression at 1 kbar accelerates PS4 decomposition and Li2S-like ordering, whereas 10-100 kbar compression restricts structural rearrangement and long-range crystallization. Charge-resolved dynamics further identify sulfur-centered, lithium-rich early-interphase environments associated with subsequent Li2S-like ordering. Uniaxial loading accelerates interfacial reaction relative to isostatic loading at the same nominal pressure. Pressure also changes void closure and dead-lithium spreading in a defect-location-dependent manner. These results establish applied pressure as a mechanochemical process variable coupling interphase chemistry, ion transport and defect evolution, providing a mechanistic framework for interpreting pressure effects in sulfide solid-state batteries.