Structural and electrical properties of ceramic Li-ion conductors based on Li$_{1.3}$Al$_{0.3}$Ti$_{1.7}$(PO$_4$)$_3$-LiF

TL;DR

This study investigates the structural and electrical properties of Li-ion conducting ceramics based on Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 with LiF additive, revealing microstructure effects on ionic conductivity and identifying optimal sintering conditions.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how LiF additive influences microstructure and ionic conductivity of LATP ceramics, with detailed analysis of phase decomposition and sintering effects.

Findings

Maximum ionic conductivity of 1.1 x 10^-4 S/cm at room temperature.

Grain boundary phases significantly affect overall ionic conductivity.

LiF additive and sintering temperature optimize microstructure for better performance.

Abstract

The work presents the investigations of Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3-xLiF Li-ion conducting ceramics with 0 < x < 0.3 by means of X-ray diffractometry (XRD), 7Li, 19F, 27Al and 31P Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MAS NMR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetry (TG), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), impedance spectroscopy (IS) and density method. It has been shown that the total ionic conductivity of both as-prepared and ceramic Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 is low due to a grain boundary phase exhibiting high electrical resistance. This phase consists mainly of berlinite crystalline phase as well as some amorphous phase containing Al3+ ions. The electrically resistant phases of the grain boundary decompose during sintering with LiF additive. The processes leading to microstructure changes and their effect on the ionic properties of the materials are discussed in the frame of the brick layer model (BLM). The highest total ionic conductivity at room temperature was measured for LATP-0.1LiF ceramic sintered at 800{\deg}C and was equal to {\sigma}tot = 1.1 x 10-4 Scm-1.