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Lithium superionic conductors with corner-sharing frameworks

Journal
NATURE MATERIALS
Date
2022.03.31
Abstract

Lithium superionic conductors are indispensable for all-solid-state batteries. Although thiophosphates are reported to exhibit the highest lithium ionic conductivity, their intrinsic safety issues have led to a shift of interest towards the oxide chemistry. Herein, we reveal that corner-sharing connectivity of the oxide crystal structure framework promotes superionic conductivity. We rationalize the origin of their high ionic conductivity by their distorted lithium environment and reduced interaction of lithium with non-Li cations. By performing a high-throughput search for materials with this feature, we discover 10 novel oxide frameworks that are predicted to exhibit superionic conductivity―from which we experimentally demonstrate LiGa(SeO3)2 with a high bulk ionic conductivity of 0.11 mS/cm, low activation energy of 0.17 eV and low processing temperature. Our findings provide new insight into the factors that govern fast lithium mobility in oxide materials and as such will accelerate the developing of novel oxide electrolytes for all solid-state batteries.

Reference
Nat. Mater. (2022)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01222-4