Pressure-induced phase transitions in Na2B12H12, structural investigation on a candidate for solid-state electrolyte

Elucidating the pressure-induced enhancement of ionic conductivity in sodium closo-hydroborate electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries

Hydroborates are an emerging class of solid electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries. Here, we investigate the impact of pressure on the crystal structure and ionic conductivity of a close-hydroborate salt consisting of Na₂B₁₀H₁₀ and Na₂B₁₂H₁₂. Two Na₂B₁₀H₁₀:Na₂B₁₂H₁₂ ratios were studied, 1:1 and 1:3. The anions of the as-synthesized powder with 1:1 ratio crystallize in a single face-centered cubic phase, while the anions of the powder with 1:3 ratio crystallize in a single monoclinic phase. After applying pressure to densify the powder into a pellet, a partial phase transformation into a body-centered cubic (BCC) phase is observed for both ratios. The BCC content saturates at 50 weight percent (wt%) at 500 MPa for the 1:1 ratio and at 77 wt% at 1000 MPa for the 1:3 sample. The room temperature sodium-ion conductivity follows an analogous trend. For the 1:1 ratio, it increases from 2 × 10^-4 Scm^-1 at 10 wt% BCC content to about 1.0 × 10^-3 Scm^-1 at 50 wt% BCC content. For the 1:3 ratio, it increases from 1.3 × 10^-5 Scm^-1 at 11.9 wt% BCC to 8.1 × 10^-4 Scm^-1 at 71 wt% BCC content. Our results show that pressure is a prerequisite to achieve high sodium-ion conductivity by formation of the highly conductive BCC phase.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10853-022-08121-8.

Study of the Temperature- and Pressure-Dependent Structural Properties of Alkali Hydrido-closo-borate Compounds

In this work, we report on the structural properties of alkali hydrido-closo-(car)borates, a promising class of solid-state electrolyte materials, using high-pressure and temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction experiments combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The mechanical properties are determined via pressure-dependent diffraction studies and DFT calculations; the shear moduli appear to be very low for all studied compounds, revealing their high malleability (that can be beneficial for the manufacturing and stable cycling of all-solid-state batteries). The thermodiffraction experiments also reveal a high coefficient of thermal expansion for these materials. We discover a pressure-induced phase transition for K₂B₁₂H₁₂ from Fm3̅ to Pnnm symmetry around 2 GPa. A temperature-induced phase transition for Li₂B₁₀H₁₀ was also observed for the first time by thermodiffraction, and the crystal structure determined by combining experimental data and DFT calculations. Interestingly, all phases of the studied compounds (including newly discovered high-pressure and high-temperature phases) may be related via a group–subgroup relationship, with the notable exception of the room-temperature phase of Li₂B₁₀H₁₀.

Herein, we study the pressure and temperature dependencies of alkali hydrido-closo-borates in extracting the mechanical properties of this class of compounds that have a promising future as solid electrolytes. In our research, we have discovered and determined two new high-pressure and high-temperature crystal structures.

Boron Hydrogen Compounds: Hydrogen Storage and Battery Applications

About 25 years ago, Bogdanovic and Schwickardi (B. Bogdanovic, M. Schwickardi: J. Alloys Compd. 1-9, 253 (1997) discovered the catalyzed release of hydrogen from NaAlH4. This discovery stimulated a vast research effort on light hydrides as hydrogen storage materials, in particular boron hydrogen compounds. Mg(BH4)2, with a hydrogen content of 14.9 wt %, has been extensively studied, and recent results shed new light on intermediate species formed during dehydrogenation. The chemistry of B3H8-, which is an important intermediate between BH4- and B12H122-, is presented in detail. The discovery of high ionic conductivity in the high-temperature phases of LiBH4 and Na2B12H12 opened a new research direction. The high chemical and electrochemical stability of closo-hydroborates has stimulated new research for their applications in batteries. Very recently, an all-solid-state 4 V Na battery prototype using a Na4(CB11H12)2(B12H12) solid electrolyte has been demonstrated. In this review, we present the current knowledge of possible reaction pathways involved in the successive hydrogen release reactions from BH4- to B12H122-, and a discussion of relevant necessary properties for high-ionic-conduction materials.

Ionic Conductors: Effect of Temperature on Conductivity and Mechanical Properties and Their Interrelations

The ionic transport and the mechanical properties in solids are intimately related. However, few studies have been done to elucidate the background of that relation. With the objective to fill this gap and gain further understanding on the fundamental properties of ion conducting materials, we are studying systematically the mechanical properties of different materials. In the present study, after showing briefly our previous results obtained in crystalline materials, results regarding the relation between ionic conduction and mechanical properties in superionic glasses is presented. All these results indicate the intimate relation between the mechanical and ionic conduction. The results also indicate that the Grüneisen parameter and the Anderson–Grüneisen parameter of ionic conductors exhibit large temperature dependence and increase with temperature.

Polymorphism of Calcium Decahydrido-closo-decaborate and Characterization of Its Hydrates

Metal closo-borates and their derivatives have shown promise in several fields of application from cancer therapy to solid-state electrolytes partly owing to their stability in aqueous solutions and high thermal stability. We report the synthesis and structural analysis of α- and β-CaB₁₀H₁₀, which are structurally and energetically similar, both showing a tetrahedral coordination of Ca²⁺ to four closo-borate cages. The main distinctions between the α- and β-polymorph are found in the crystal system (monoclinic or orthorhombic), topology (wurtzite or cag), and the degree of displacement of Ca²⁺ from the center of the coordination tetrahedron. Neutron vibrational spectroscopy measurements further revealed distinct perturbations in the cation-anion interactions arising from the different crystal structures. We also synthesized and structurally investigated five stoichiometric hydrates, CaB₁₀H₁₀·xH₂O, x = 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7, and discovered an order-disorder polymorphic transition, α- to β-CaB₁₀H₁₀·6H₂O. The hydrates reveal a rich structural diversity with ordered structures, CaB₁₀H₁₀·xH₂O, x = 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7, as well as disordered structures, x = 6 and 8. The latter allow for a continuum of compositions within 7-8 molecules of crystal water. The DFT-optimized experimental crystal structures reveal complex networks of three types of hydrogen interactions: dihydrogen bonds, B-H^δ-···^+δH-O; hydrogen-hydrogen interactions, B-H···H-B; and hydrogen bonds, O-H^δ+···^-δO-H. A rather short B-H···H-B (2.14 Å) interaction is observed for CaB₁₀H₁₀·5H₂O, which is locally stabilized by four hydrogen bonds.

The Crystal Chemistry of Inorganic Hydroborates

The crystal structures of inorganic hydroborates (salts and coordination compounds with anions containing hydrogen bonded to boron) except for the simplest anion, borohydride BH4−, are analyzed regarding their structural prototypes found in the inorganic databases such as Pearson’s Crystal Data [Villars and Cenzual (2015), Pearson’s Crystal Data. Crystal Structure Database for Inorganic Compounds, Release 2019/2020, ASM International, Materials Park, Ohio, USA]. Only the compounds with hydroborate as the only type of anion are reviewed, although including compounds gathering more than one different hydroborate (mixed anion). Carbaborane anions and partly halogenated hydroborates are included. Hydroborates containing anions other than hydroborate or neutral molecules such as NH3 are not discussed. The coordination polyhedra around the cations, including complex cations, and the hydroborate anions are determined and constitute the basis of the structural systematics underlying hydroborates chemistry in various variants of anionic packing. The latter is determined from anion–anion coordination with the help of topology analysis using the program TOPOS [Blatov (2006), IUCr CompComm. Newsl. 7, 4–38]. The Pauling rules for ionic crystals apply only to smaller cations with the observed coordination number within 2–4. For bigger cations, the predictive power of the first Pauling rule is very poor. All non-molecular hydroborate crystal structures can be derived by simple deformation of the close-packed anionic lattices, i.e., cubic close packing (ccp) and hexagonal close packing (hcp), or body-centered cubic (bcc), by filling tetrahedral or octahedral sites. This review on the crystal chemistry of hydroborates is a contribution that should serve as a roadmap for materials engineers to design new materials, synthetic chemists in their search for promising compounds to be prepared, and materials scientists in understanding the properties of novel materials.

Untersuchungen zur Polymorphie der Cäsium-Dodekahalogeno-closo-Dodekaborate Cs2[B12 X 12] (X = Cl–I)

Thermoanalytic DSC and temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction investigations on the cesium dodecahalogeno-closo-dodecaborates Cs2[B12 X 12] (X = Cl–I) have revealed solid-solid phase transitions from their trigonal room-temperature α-forms (e.g. α-Cs2[B12Cl12]: a = 959.67(3) pm, c = 4564.2(2) pm, Z = 6, space group R 3 ¯ $\overline{3}$ ) into cubic high-temperature modifications. The isotypic title compounds crystallize in the space group Pm 3 ¯ $\overline{3}$ n (e.g. β-Cs2[B12Cl12]: a = 1051.98(6) pm, Z = 2) with a W3O-type defect structure. The statistic occupation of six possible positions with only four Cs+ cations results in a cation-deficient A 2 B arrangement for Cs2[B12 X 12]. Upon cooling the β-phase, a third polymorph was observed, which also crystallizes in the cubic system, but now in the space group Ia 3 ¯ $\overline{3}$ d (e.g. γ-Cs2[B12Cl12]: a = 2102.2(3) pm, Z = 16), and has to be regarded as a phase with only a partially disordered cation substructure. In this crystal structure the [B12 X 12]2− anions exhibit a NaTl-type arrangement, in which the Cs+ cations occupy suitable interstices. The phase transitions of the differently halogenated cesium salts follow no specific trend as the transition from the trigonal α- to the cubic β-form occurs at 178 °C for the chlorinated, at 270 °C for the iodinated and at 325 °C for the brominated examples. On further heating however, β-Cs2[B12I12] starts to decompose at 945 °C first, followed by β-Cs2[B12Br12] and β-Cs2[B12Cl12] at 959 °C and 983 °C, respectively.

Direct Solution-Based Synthesis of Na4 (B12 H12 )(B10 H10 ) Solid Electrolyte

All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) promise higher power and energy density than batteries based on liquid electrolytes. Recently, a stable 3 V ASSB based on the super ionic conductor (1 mS cm^-1 near room temperature) Na₄ (B₁₂ H₁₂ )(B₁₀ H₁₀ ) has demonstrated excellent cycling stability. This study concerns the development of a five-step, scalable, and solution-based synthesis of Na₄ (B₁₂ H₁₂ )(B₁₀ H₁₀ ). The use of a wet chemistry approach allows solution processing with high throughput and addresses the main drawbacks for this technology, specifically, the limited electrode-electrolyte contact and high cost. Moreover, a cost-efficient synthesis of the expensive precursors Na₂ B₁₀ H₁₀ and Na₂ B₁₂ H₁₂ is also achieved through the same process. The mechanism of the reactions is investigated and two key parameters to tune the kinetics and selectivity are highlighted: the choice of counter cation (tetraethylammonium) and solvent.