Hydrothermal preparation of cubic sodium zirconium phosphate crystals

Abstract

NASICON type material NaZr2(PO4)3 is considered to be the ideal solid electrolyte choice for solid-state Na batteries due to its excellent low thermal expansion and Na ion conductivity. However, the often-prepared solid-state reaction method requires a high reaction temperature and produces other polymerized phosphates and environmentally unfriendly substances. This paper’s hydrothermal method quickly prepared NaZr2(PO4)3 crystals with cubic morphologies at a low temperature. The effects of different concentrations of NaH2PO4 solution and different hydrothermal times on the preparation of the powders were explored. XRD, SEM, TEM and IR tests characterized the as-prepared samples. The results show that the NaZr2(PO4)3 crystals synthesized by the hydrothermal method have good crystallinity and a clean surface, with a standard cubic morphology and a size distribution between 400 nm and 750 nm. This indicates that the hydrothermal method is an effective synthesis one.