Structural and Thermal Characterisation of Lithium Aluminium Titanium Tantalum Phosphate NASICON-type Solid Electrolyte

The material with NASICON-type structure lithium aluminium titanium phosphate with tantalum substituting titanium Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.66Ta0.04(PO4)3 (LATTaP) has been synthesised via the solid-state method at a sintering temperature of 900 ºC for 6 h. The thermal analysis indicated that the reaction of the chemical mixture becomes stable around 717 ºC, indicating an improvement in the material densification. FTIR shows the presence of NASICON phosphate peaks, which were dominated by the vibration of the PO4 ionic group. This also confirms the presence of LiTi2(PO4)3 in all of the samples. The X-ray powder diffraction analysis shows the effect of tantalum in the composition LATTaP. The single phase has been observed due to tantalum substitution with a total conductivity of σ = 1.35 x 10-4 S/cm. These findings suggest that the composition has the potential to be used as a solid electrolyte material in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. This material will contribute to better NASICON material for solid electrolytes.