How We Got Here
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday was an english physicist/chemist who established the foundation for solid-state ionics when he discovered the solid electrolytes silver sulfide, and lead fluoride. However there was just one problem, he couldn't find anything that he could use it for since they never had devices that could use these SSB's back then. Due to this his work on solid electrolytes wouldn't be of any use for the next 130 years.
Beta-alumina
Although solid-state batteries were invented in the 1830s, they were never truly used in anything until the 1960s with the discovery of beta-alumina, which is a solid-ion conductor. This solid-ion conductor would lead to the development of a commercially relevant high-temperature sodium-sulfur battery, which would be created by the Ford Motor company. Following this, the SSB would continue to innovate and in 1983, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee discovered a new compound which would produce a much more efficient version of the SSB.
LGPS
Despite all of these innovations, SSBs were never able to compete with liquid batteries and their energy density until 2011 when scientists discovered the lithium superionic conductor Ampcera Sulfide Solid Electrolyte (LGPS). This conductor would allow the solid-state battery to compete with the lithium-ion liquid battery, and it would spark new interest in solid-state batteries. Companies would begin incorporating SSBs into a variety of different devices that we use everyday, such as laptops, tablets, and phones.
Sodium-Ion
For years now, scientists have been researching less expensive alternative materials to lithium that would still contain a large energy density, and after experimenting for a long time, they finally found one. Sodium, (the sixth most common element in the world), would be substantially cheaper than utilizing lithium in a battery. Sodium-ion SSBs also have a life span that is three times longer than the traditional lithium-ion SSBs that we always use in our everyday lives. Obtaining these materials requires also less effort, therefore, making mass-production of SSBs significantly more efficient.