Synthesis and characterization of a novel bismuth-molybdenum oxide and study of its ionic conducting behavior

A wet chemistry method applied to the synthesis of bismuth-molybdenum oxides leads to the low temperature synthesis of a new phase with composition Bi10Mo3O24. The crystal data have been determined by ab initio indexing of the powder pattern. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system, with unit-cell parameters a=23.7235(4), b=5.64720(8), c=8.6798(1)Å, β=95.879(1)° and V=1156.73Å3. A preliminary heavy-atom skeleton related to the fluorite structure allowed us to postulate a layer structure with composition [Bi10O12]n[MoO4]3n. This compound has been processed by spark plasma sintering as a ceramic material, exhibiting good ionic conductor properties in the whole temperature range of stability.