Aerosol deposition (AD) method is a kind of additive manufacturing technology for fabricating dense films such as metals and ceramics at room temperature. It resolves the challenge of integrating ceramic films onto temperature-sensitive substrates, including metals, glasses, and polymers. It should be emphasized that the AD is a spray coating technology that uses powder without thermal assistance to generate films with high density. Compared to the traditional sputter-based approach, the AD shows several advantages in efficiency, convenience, better interfacial bonding and so on. Therefore, it opens some possibilities to the field of batteries, especially all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) and draws much attention not only for research but also for large scale applications.

The purpose of this work is to provide a critical review on the science and technology of AD as well as its applications in the field of batteries. The process, mechanism and effective parameters of AD, and recent developments in AD applications in the field of batteries will be systematically reviewed so that a trend for AD will be finally provided.

The solid-state electrolyte in a solid-state battery acts as an electrons' barrier and an ions' bridge between the two electrodes. As solid-state electrolyte does not store the mobile ions, it is necessary to achieve a thin solid-state electrolyte to reduce the internal resistance and enhance the energy density. In this work, a thin NASICON solid-state electrolyte, with a stoichiometry of Na₃Zr₂Si₂PO₁₂, is fabricated by the tape-casting method and its thickness can be easily controlled by the gap between substrate and scraper. The areal-specific resistance and the flexural strength increase with the electrolyte thickness. A solid-state sodium metal battery with 86 μm thick Na₃Zr₂Si₂PO₁₂ exhibits a reversible specific capacity of 73–78 mAh g⁻¹ with a redox potential of 3.4 V at 0.2 C. This work presents the importance of electrolyte thickness to reduce internal resistance and achieve a high energy density for sodium batteries.

Generation of large strains upon Na⁺ intercalation is one of the prime concerns of the mechanical degradation of Prussian blue (PB) and its analogs. Structural construction from the atomic level is imperative to maintain structural stability and ameliorate the long-term stability of PB. Herein, an inter nickel hexacyanoferrate (NNiFCN) is successfully introduced at the out layer of iron hexacyanoferrate (NFFCN) through ion exchange to improve structural stability through compressive stress locking by forming NNiFCN shell. Furthermore, the kinetics of sodium ion diffusion is enhanced through the built-in electric pathway. The electrochemical performance is therefore significantly improved with a remarkable long-term cycling stability over 3,000 cycles at 500 mA·g^–1 in the full sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) with a maximum energy density of 91.94 Wh·g^–1, indicating that the core-shell structured NNiFCN/NFFCN could be the low-cost and high-performance cathode for full SIBs in large-scale EES applications.

All-solid-state sodium-ion battery is regarded as the next generation battery to replace the current commercial lithium-ion battery, with the advantages of abundant sodium resources, low price and high-level safety. As one critical component in sodium-ion battery, solid-state electrolyte should possess superior operational safety and design simplicity, yet reasonable high room-temperature ionic conductivity. This paper gives a comprehensive review on the recent progress in solid-state electrolyte materials for sodium-ion battery, including inorganic ceramic/glass-ceramic, organic polymer and ceramic-polymer composite electrolytes, and also provides a comparison of the ionic conductivity in various solid-state electrolyte materials. The development of solid-state electrolytes suggests a bright future direction: all solid-state sodium-ion battery could be fully used to power all electric road vehicles, portable electronic devices and large-scale grid support.