Alkali-Glass Behavior in Honeycomb-Type Layered Li3- xNaxNi2SbO6 Solid Solution

Inorg Chem. 2019 Sep 3;58(17):11546-11552. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.9b01385. Epub 2019 Aug 22.

Abstract

Layered oxide compositions Li3-xNaxNi2SbO6 have been prepared by solid-state synthesis. A complete solid solution is evidenced and characterized by X-ray and neutron diffraction as well as 7Li and 23Na solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The transition-metal layer is characterized by the classic honeycomb Ni2+/Sb5+ ordering, whereas a more uncommon randomly mixed occupancy of lithium and sodium is evidenced within the alkali interslab space. In situ X-ray diffraction and density functional theory calculations show that this alkali disordered feature is entropically driven. Fast cooling then appears as a synthesis root to confine bidimensional alkali glass within crystalline layered oxides.