Miscibility of Li4GeO4 into Li3PS4 Solid Electrolytes from First-Principles Methods

Li Y., Deng Z., Chen C., and Canepa P.; Chem. Mater., 36, 7877 (2024).

Abstract

Lithium−based oxysulfide solid electrolytes are currently being researched for all−solid−state batteries, as they offer a combination of high electrochemical stabilities and elevated Li−ion conductivities, thus combining the best characteristics of sulfide and oxide solid electrolytes. In this work, we investigated the miscibility of Li3PS4 and Li4GeO4 polyanions. Building upon a robust multiscale first−principles methodology, we explore the configurational disorder arising from the mixing of GeO44– and PS43– in the (1 − x)Li3PS4 − xLi4GeO4 tie line. The computed phase diagram reveals a stable ordered phase with the composition Li7PO4GeS4. In Li7PO4GeS4, the sulfur atoms initially bound to pentavalent phosphorus as PS43− are fully exchanged with oxygen atoms (from GeO44−), giving rise to GeS44− moieties. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated a high Li−ion conductivity of ∼13.31 mS cm–1 for Li7PO4GeS4 at 573 K. These results reveal the structural complexity and flexibility of these polyanion systems.