The reporter learned from the University of Science and Technology of China that Ma Cheng, a professor of the university, has developed a new type of solid electrolyte. Its comprehensive performance is similar to the most advanced sulfide and chloride solid electrolyte at present, but its cost is less than 4% of the latter, which is suitable for industrial application. Recently, this achievement was published in the internationally renowned academic journal Nature Communications. All solid-state lithium batteries can overcome the serious safety deficiencies of commercial lithium-ion batteries and further enhance energy density, which is a disruptive technology for new energy vehicles and energy storage industries. However, due to the difficulty in balancing performance and cost with solid-state electrolytes, the core material of all solid-state lithium batteries, industrialization still faces significant obstacles. In order to meet the needs of practical applications, the solid-state electrolyte of all solid-state lithium batteries needs to meet at least three conditions simultaneously: high ion conductivity (over 1 milliSiemens per centimeter at room temperature), good deformability (achieving over 90% density at 250 to 350 MPa), and sufficiently low cost (less than $50 per kilogram). The widely studied solid electrolytes of oxides, sulfides, and chlorides cannot simultaneously meet these conditions. In this study, Ma Cheng no longer focused on any of the oxides, sulfides, or chlorides mentioned above, but instead turned to oxychloride and designed and synthesized a new solid-state electrolyte - lithium zirconium oxychloride. This material has a strong cost advantage. If it is synthesized with hydrated Lithium hydroxide, Lithium chloride and zirconium chloride, its raw material cost is only 11.6 dollars per kilogram. However, if hydrated zirconium oxychloride, Lithium chloride and zirconium chloride are synthesized, the cost of lithium zirconium oxychloride can be further reduced to about US $7 per kg, which is far lower than the most cost competitive solid electrolyte lithium zirconium chloride (US $10.78 per kg), and less than 4% of sulfide and rare earth based and indium based chloride solid electrolytes. While possessing a strong cost advantage, the comprehensive performance of lithium zirconium oxychloride is comparable to the state-of-the-art solid electrolytes of sulfides and chlorides. Its room temperature ionic conductivity is as high as 2.42 millisieves per centimeter, exceeding the required 1 millisieves per centimeter for applications, and is currently among the top reported solid-state electrolytes. At the same time, its good deformability enables the material to achieve 94.2% density under a pressure of 300 MPa, which can well meet application requirements and is superior to sulfide and chloride solid electrolytes known for their deformability (less than 90% density under the same pressure). Experiments have shown that an all solid-state lithium battery composed of lithium zirconium oxychloride and a high nickel ternary positive electrode exhibits extremely excellent performance: under 12 minute rapid charging conditions, the battery can still successfully cycle stably at room temperature for over 2000 cycles. Researchers have introduced that lithium zirconium oxychloride can achieve similar performance to the most advanced sulfide and chloride solid electrolytes at the lowest cost, which is of great significance for the industrialization of all solid-state lithium batteries. The reviewers believed that this discovery was "very innovative and original", and that the lithium zirconium oxychloride material was "very promising" and "beneficial to the commercialization of Solid-state battery technology". (New News Agency)