Rietveld study on the effect of pelletizing and sintering towards the structural evolution of Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 Ahmad Sohib (a), Joti Karunawan (b), Citra Deliana Dewi Sundari (c), Octia Floweri (b), and Ferry Iskandar (a,b,*)
(a) Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
(b) Research Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (RCNN), Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
(c) Inorganic and Physical Chemistry Division, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
*Corresponding author: ferry[at]fi.itb.ac.id
Abstract
Lithium aluminium titanium phosphate, Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 (LATP), is a highly potential ceramic material for solid electrolyte (SE) in an all-solid-state battery (ASSB) thanks to its superior ionic conductivity. The crystallinity of the ceramic material plays an important role in determining the ionic conductivity, ensuring the excellent performance of ASSB. To be applied in the ASSB system, LATP should be pressed into a disc and then sintered at a high temperature to improve its crystallinity. This research aims to investigate the effect of pelletizing and sintering on the crystallinity of LATP. LATP powder was synthesized via a sol-gel method followed by calcination at 850 degree Celsius for 5 hours in the air. The obtained powder was mechanically pressed (20 MPa) into pellets and sintered at 1000 degree Celsius for 3 hours. Morphology and structural features of the LATP samples (powder and pelletized samples) were characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The results demonstrated that the particle size of LATP in the pelletized samples are larger than the powder one. This morphology possibly contributes to the lower internal resistance of LATP and, therefore, higher ionic conductivity. Rietveld refinement analysis showed that the crystalline properties of LATP changed after pelletizing and sintering treatment. This research demonstrated the importance of pelletizing and sintering process to achieve high ionic conductivity of LATP.
