Modeling Li-ion conductivity in LiLa(PO3)4 powder

Polycrystalline powder and single-crystal of LiLa(PO3)4 are synthesized by solid state reaction and flux technique, respectively. A morphological description of the obtained product was made based on scanning electron microscopy micrographs. The obtained powder was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, FTIR and Raman spectroscopies. Ionic conductivity of the LiLa(PO3)4 powder was measured and evaluated over a temperature range from 553 to 913 K. Single crystals of LiLa(PO3)4 are characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The LiLa(PO3)4 structure was found to be isotypic with LiNd(PO3)4. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system with space group C2/c and cell parameters: a=16.635(6)  Å, b=7.130(3)  Å, c=9.913(3) Å, β=126.37(4)°, V=946.72(6)  Å3 and Z=4. The LiLa(PO3)4 structure was described as an alternation between spiraling chains (PO3)n and (La3+, Li+) cations along the b direction. The small Li+ ions, coordinated to four oxygen atoms, were located in the large connected cavities created between the LaO8 polyhedra and the polyphosphate chains. The jumping of Li+ through tunnels of the crystalline network was investigated using complex impedance spectroscopy. The close value of the activation energies calculated through the analysis of conductivity data and loss spectra indicate that the transport in the investigated system is through hopping mechanism. The correlation between ionic conductivity of LiLa(PO3)4 and its crystallographic structure was investigated and the most probably transport pathway model was determined.