Lithium-doped spinels could function as solid state electrolytes in batteries in which all components have the spinel structure. In this study we prepared lithium-doped MgAl 2 O 4 and ZnAl 2 O 4 . Advanced solid state 7 Li, 25 Mg, and 27 Al NMR have been used to investigate the structure of these spinels and the structural changes that take place therein upon lithium doping. The spinel structure is well retained, although the amount of tetrahedral aluminum increases with increased lithium content. Using MQMAS experiments, the presence of two tetrahedral sites is discovered in both doped and undoped spinels. It is shown that the spinel structure of MgAl 2 O 4 is heterogeneous, which leads to distributions in chemical shift and quadrupolar parameters. The heterogeneity is also shown in 25 Mg spectra obtained with the quadrupolar Carr−Purcell−Meiboom−Gill (QCPMG) and sideband selective Double Frequency Sweep-QCPMG (ssDFS-QCPMG) pulse sequences. Lithium mobility is measured using static variable temperature 7 Li NMR experiments. A low fraction of mobile lithium was found (3−4%) for magnesium spinels. The lithium doped ZnAl 2 O 4 sample shows practically no mobility. This sample has significantly less disorder and less cation site inversion than the magnesium samples.
■ INTRODUCTIONLithium-ion batteries nowadays dominate the market for portable devices. For their automotive applications there are, however, significant improvements to make, which include improving safety, recyclability, and reducing mass. Solid state batteries show potential in these properties. In solid state batteries the liquid electrolyte has been replaced by a solid electrolyte. Much research has been performed in finding new solid electrolyte materials with high conductivity. The current focus is on lithium-ion materials, ranging from crystalline materials to polymers, amorphous composites, and glasses. 1,2 LiPON is an example of a solid state electrolyte that is being used for commercial applications, 3 but its performance is limited by the low ionic conductivity (ca. 10 −6 S/cm at 300 K).Research on new solid electrolytes is focused on two fields: sulfide-based and oxide-based materials. Sulfide materials such as the Li 2 S−P 2 S 5 glass-ceramics, 4 Li 10 GeP 2 S 12 and its derivatives, 5,6 or Argyrodite-type compounds 7−9 have shown excellent conductivity, up to 10 −2 S/cm at room temperature. While these materials are attractive, their preparation is complicated, as it needs to be carried out in protected atmosphere, and the resulting powders are not stable in contact with certain oxide cathode materials, requiring costly and complex coatings. 10 Oxide-type solid electrolytes have the advantage of being more easily synthesized, but their conductivity is in general lower than that of sulfides. Examples include the LATP or LAGP materials with Nasicon-type structure, 11,12 the A-site deficient perovskites such as Li 3x La (2/3)-x □ (1/3)−2x TiO 3 (LLTO), 13 or the large family of garnet-type materials. 14−16 All these compounds exhibit high con...