Crystal structure and ionic conductivity of the new cobalt polyphosphate NaCo(PO3)3

Abstract

Polycrystalline sample of sodium cobalt triphosphate NaCo(PO3)3 was obtained by solid-state reaction and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction. The title compound is isostructural to NaZn(PO3)3 and its structure was refined by the Rietveld refinement in the cubic system, space group Pa̅, with a=14.2484(4) Å. The obtained structural model is supported by bond valence sum (BVS) and charge distribution (CD) methods. The structure is described as a three-dimensional open-anionic framework built up of corner-sharing CoO6 and PO4 polyhedra with interconnecting channels along the 3-axis, in which the Na+ cations are located. The ionic conductivity measurements are performed on pellets with relative density of 84%. The electrical conductivity is 1.01×10−5 S cm−1 at 480 °C and the activation energy deduced from the slope is 1.1 eV. The correlation between crystal structure and ionic conductivity was studied by the means of the bond-valence-site-energy (BVSE) model. The main result is that sodium transport is made mainly via Na2 and Na3 sites. © 2015 Elsevier Inc.