Material design of new lithium ionic conductor, thio-LISICON, in the Li 2S–P 2S 5 system

Abstract

A new lithium ionic conductor of the thio-LISICON (LIthium SuperIonic CONductor) family was found in the binary Li 2S–P 2S 5 system; the new solid solution with the composition range 0.0≤ x≤0.27 in Li 3+5 x P 1− x S 4 was synthesized at 700 °C and characterized by X-ray diffraction measurements. Its electrical and electrochemical properties were studied by ac impedance and cyclic voltammetry measurements, respectively. The solid solution member at x=0.065 in Li 3+5 x P 1− x S 4 showed the highest conductivity value of 1.5×10 −4 S cm −1 at 27 °C with negligible electronic conductivity and the activation energy of 22 kJ mol −1 which is characteristic of high ionic conduction state. The extra lithium ions in Li 3PS 4 created by partial substitution of P 5+ for Li + led to the large increase in ionic conductivity. In the solid solution range examined, the minimum conductivity was obtained for the compositions, Li 3PS 4 ( x=0.0 in Li 3+5 x P 1− x S 4) and Li 4P 0.8S 4 ( x=0.2 in Li 3+5 x P 1− x S 4); this conductivity behavior is similar to other thio-LISICON family with the general formula, Li x M 1− y M y ′S 4 (M=Si, Ge, and M′=P, Al, Zn, Ga, Sb). Conduction mechanism and the material design concepts are discussed based on the conduction behavior and the structure considerations.