Relationship between hygroscopicity reduction and morphology evolution of Y2Mo3O12 doped with (LiMg)3+

•Hygroscopicity of Y2Mo3O12 is reduced due to substitution of (LiMg)3+ for Y3+.•Morphology evolution of Y2Mo3O12 crystal is investigated by introducing (LiMg)3+.•Thermal expansion versus water releasing of Y2Mo3O12 is suppressed greatly.•Coefficient of thermal expansion of (LiMg)2Mo3O12 is reduced by introducing Y3+.

The morphology evolution and hygroscopicity reduction of Y2Mo3O12 crystal are investigated by introducing (LiMg)3+. With increasing the content of (LiMg)3+, the hygroscopicity of Y2Mo3O12 is reduced obviously depending on the XRD, Raman and DSC/TG results, and the morphology of Y2Mo3O12 transforms remarkably from amorphous crystal to octahedra and then rod. The results suggest the effects of (LiMg)3+ on repelling water molecules and improving the growth of Y2Mo3O12 crystal, which could be a reflection of the decrease of micro-channels in the structure. Some (LiMg)3+ substitute Y3+ in Y2Mo3O12 to form solid solutions of (LiMg)2−xYxMo3O12 with octahedra and then rod, and excess (LiMg)3+ leads to the formation of (LiMg)2Mo3O12 due to the difficulty in substituting Y3+ with (LiMg)3+. The substitution of Y3+ for (LiMg)3+ reduces the thermal expansion coefficient of Li-ion battery material of (LiMg)2Mo3O12.

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