Structural, electrical and electrochemical properties of Li₄Zr_xSi_1-xO₄ (0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.06) ceramic electrolytes

The aim of this work was to investigate the structural, electrical and electrochemical properties of Li₄Zr_xSi_1-xO₄ (0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.06) compounds prepared via sol gel method. The X-ray Diffraction results showed that all compounds can be indexed to monoclinic structure in space group P2_1/m. The Li₄Zr_0.06Si_0.94O₄ compound showed highest bulk, grain boundary and total conductivity values of 1.19 × 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹, 4.75 × 10⁻⁵ S cm⁻¹ and 3.41 × 10⁻⁵ S cm⁻¹ respectively. The insertion of Zr⁴⁺ is found to enhance conductivity of the parent sample Li₄SiO₄. Linear sweep voltammetry results showed that Li₄Zr_0.06Si_0.94O₄ ceramic electrolytes was electrochemically stable up to 5.07 V versus a Li⁺/Li⁺ reference electrode