Mechanochemical Synthesis: A Tool to Tune Cation Site Disorder and Ionic Transport Properties of Li3MCl6(M = Y, Er) Superionic Conductors

Abstract

The lithium-conducting, rare-earth halides, Li₃MX₆ (M = Y, Er; X = Cl, Br), have garnered significantly rising interest recently, as they have been reported to have oxidative stability and high ionic conductivities. However, while a multitude of materials exhibit a superionic conductivity close to 1 mS cm⁻¹, the exact design strategies to further improve the ionic transport properties have not been established yet. Here, the influence of the employed synthesis method of mechanochemical milling, compared to subsequent crystallization routines as well as classic solid-state syntheses on the structure and resulting transport behavior of Li₃ErCl₆ and Li₃YCl₆ are explored. Using a combination of X-ray diffraction, pair distribution function analysis, density functional theory, and impedance spectroscopy, insights into the average and local structural features that influence the underlying transport are provided. The existence of a cation defect within the structure in which Er/Y are disordered to a new position strongly benefits the transport properties. A synthetically tuned, increasing degree of this disordering leads to a decreasing activation energy and increasing ionic conductivity. This work sheds light on the possible synthesis strategies and helps to systematically understand and further improve the properties of this class of materials.