Conduction below 100 °C in nominal Li6ZnNb4O14

The increasing demand for a safe rechargeable battery with a high energy density per cell is driving a search for a novel solid electrolyte with a high Li+ or Na+ conductivity that is chemically stable in a working Li-ion or Na-ion battery. Li6ZnNb4O14 (LZNO) has been reported to exhibit a σ Li > 10−2 S cm−1 at 250 °C, but to disproportionate into multiple phases on cooling from 850 °C to room-temperature. An investigation of the room-temperature Li-ion conductivity in a porous pellet of a multiphase product of a nominal LZNO composition is shown to have bulk σ Li ≈ 3.3 × 10−5 S cm−1 at room-temperature that increases to 1.4 × 10−4 S cm−1 by 50 °C. 7Li MAS NMR spectra were fitted to two Lorentzian lines, one of which showed a dramatic increase with increasing temperature. A test for water stability indicates that Li+ may move to the particle and grain surfaces to react with adsorbed water as occurs in the garnet Li+ conductors.