Non-Equilibrium Manufacturing for High-Energy-Input Solid-State Battery Materials

All-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs) offer enhanced safety, energy density, and longevity, presenting transformative potential for energy storage. However, conventional manufacturing of oxide-based battery materials, such as garnet-type solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) and high-energy cathodes, relies on prolonged thermal treatments for densification and synthesis, leading to high energy consumption, low productivity, and structural degradation from the lattice to the grain scale. Although achieving high performance in ASSLBs requires system-level optimizations, developing high-quality electrolytes and cathodes is a fundamental prerequisite. Emerging rapid heating technologies based on field-assisted methods, such as flash sintering, Flash Joule heating, and microwave-assisted sintering, enable non-equilibrium thermodynamic pathways for material synthesis and densification. These approaches accelerate processing, enhance electrolyte density, suppress microstructural degradation and atomic rearrangement, and increase configuration entropy in electrode materials while reducing energy input. This review summarizes recent advances in non-equilibrium manufacturing strategies for oxide-based ASSLB components, including SSEs, cathodes, and co-sintered electrodes. The underlying thermodynamics are analyzed, electrochemical and mechanical impacts are evaluated, and the potential of fast, localized processing techniques such as high-energy beam methods are explored. The discussion also addresses scalability and industrial relevance, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of rapid fabrication principles and their implications for high-performance ASSLBs.