Anion reorientations and cation diffusion in a carbon-substituted sodium nido-borate Na-7,9-C2B9H12: 1H and 23Na NMR studies

Polyhydroborate-based salts of lithium and sodium have attracted much recent interest as promising solid-state electrolytes for energy-related applications. A member of this family, sodium dicarba-nido-undecahydroborate Na-7,9-C2B9H12 exhibits superionic conductivity above its order-disorder phase transition temperature, ∼360 K. To investigate the dynamics of the anions and cations in this compound at the microscopic level, we have measured the 1H and 23Na nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra and spin-lattice relaxation rates over the temperature range of 148–384 K. It has been found that the transition from the low-T ordered to the high-T disordered phase is accompanied by an abrupt, several-orders-of-magnitude acceleration of both the reorientational jump rate of the complex anions and the diffusive jump rate of Na+ cations. These results support the idea that reorientations of large [C2B9H12]− anions can facilitate cation diffusion and, thus, the ionic conductivity. The apparent activation energies for anion reorientations obtained from the 1H spin-lattice relaxation data are 314 meV for the ordered phase and 272 meV for the disordered phase. The activation energies for Na+ diffusive jumps derived from the 23Na spin-lattice relaxation data are 350 and 268 meV for the ordered and disordered phases, respectively.

Promoting Persistent Superionic Conductivity in Sodium Monocarba-closo-dodecaborate NaCB11H12 via Confinement within Nanoporous Silica

Superionic phases of bulk anhydrous salts based on large cluster-like polyhedral (carba)borate anions are generally stable only well above room temperature, rendering them unsuitable as solid-state electrolytes in energy-storage devices that typically operate at close to room temperature. To unlock their technological potential, strategies are needed to stabilize these superionic properties down to subambient temperatures. One such strategy involves altering the bulk properties by confinement within nanoporous insulators. In the current study, the unique structural and ion dynamical properties of an exemplary salt, NaCB₁₁H₁₂, nanodispersed within porous, high-surface-area silica via salt-solution infiltration were studied by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray powder diffraction, neutron vibrational spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, quasielastic neutron scattering, and impedance spectroscopy. Combined results hint at the formation of a nanoconfined phase that is reminiscent of the high-temperature superionic phase of bulk NaCB₁₁H₁₂, with dynamically disordered CB₁₁H₁₂ ^- anions exhibiting liquid-like reorientational mobilities. However, in contrast to this high-temperature bulk phase, the nanoconfined NaCB₁₁H₁₂ phase with rotationally fluid anions persists down to cryogenic temperatures. Moreover, the high anion mobilities promoted fast-cation diffusion, yielding Na⁺ superionic conductivities of ∼0.3 mS/cm at room temperature, with higher values likely attainable via future optimization. It is expected that this successful strategy for conductivity enhancement could be applied as well to other related polyhedral (carba)borate-based salts. Thus, these results present a new route to effectively utilize these types of superionic salts as solid-state electrolytes in future battery applications.

Anion and Cation Dynamics in Polyhydroborate Salts: NMR Studies

Polyhydroborate salts represent the important class of energy materials attracting significant recent attention. Some of these salts exhibit promising hydrogen storage properties and/or high ionic conductivities favorable for applications as solid electrolytes in batteries. Two basic types of thermally activated atomic jump motion are known to exist in these materials: the reorientational (rotational) motion of complex anions and the translational diffusion of cations or complex anions. The present paper reviews recent progress in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of both reorientational and diffusive jump motion in polyhydroborate salts. The emphasis is put on sodium and lithium closo-borates exhibiting high ionic conductivity and on borohydride-based systems showing extremely fast reorientational motion down to low temperatures. For these systems, we discuss the effects of order-disorder phase transitions on the parameters of reorientations and diffusive jumps, as well as the mechanism of low-temperature rotational tunneling.

Low-Temperature Rotational Tunneling of Tetrahydroborate Anions in Lithium Benzimidazolate-Borohydride Li2(bIm)BH4

To investigate the dynamical properties of the novel hybrid compound, lithium benzimidazolate-borohydride Li₂(bIm)BH₄ (where bIm denotes a benzimidazolate anion, C₇N₂H₅ ^-), we have used a set of complementary techniques: neutron powder diffraction, ab initio density functional theory calculations, neutron vibrational spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, neutron spin echo, and quasi-elastic neutron scattering. Our measurements performed over the temperature range from 1.5 to 385 K have revealed the exceptionally fast low-temperature reorientational motion of BH₄ ^- anions. This motion is facilitated by the unusual coordination of tetrahedral BH₄ ^- anions in Li₂(bIm)BH₄: each anion has one of its H atoms anchored within a nearly square hollow formed by four coplanar Li⁺ cations, while the remaining -BH₃ fragment extends into a relatively open space, being only loosely coordinated to other atoms. As a result, the energy barriers for reorientations of this fragment around the anchored B-H bond axis are very small, and at low temperatures, this motion can be described as rotational tunneling. The tunnel splitting derived from the neutron spin echo measurements at 3.6 K is 0.43(2) μeV. With increasing temperature, we have observed a gradual transition from the regime of low-temperature quantum dynamics to the regime of classical thermally activated jump reorientations. The jump rate of the uniaxial 3-fold reorientations reaches 5 × 10¹¹ s^-1 at 80 K. Nearer room temperature and above, both nuclear magnetic resonance and quasielastic neutron scattering measurements have revealed the second process of BH₄ ^- reorientations characterized by the activation energy of 261 meV. This process is several orders of magnitude slower than the uniaxial 3-fold reorientations; the corresponding jump rate reaches ~7 × 10⁸ s^-1 at 300 K.

NMR Studies of Lithium Diffusion in Li3(NH2)2I Over Wide Range of Li+ Jump Rates

We have studied the Li diffusion in the complex hydride Li3(NH2)2I which appears to exhibit fast Li ion conduction. To get a detailed insight into the Li motion, we have applied 7Li nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods, such as spin-lattice relaxation in the laboratory and rotating frames of reference, as well as spin-alignment echo. This combined approach allows us to probe Li jump rates over the wide dynamic range (~102–109 s−1). The spin-lattice relaxation data in the range 210–410 K can be interpreted in terms of a thermally-activated Li jump process with a certain distribution of activation energies. However, the low-temperature spin-alignment echo decays at T≤200 K suggest the presence of another Li jump process with the very low effective activation energy.

Exceptional superionic conductivity in disordered sodium decahydro-closo-decaborate

Na2 B10 H10 exhibits exceptional superionic conductivity above ca. 360 K (e.g., ca. 0.01 S cm(-1) at 383 K) concomitant with its transition from an ordered monoclinic structure to a face-centered-cubic arrangement of orientationally disordered B10 H10 (2-) anions harboring a vacancy-rich Na(+) cation sublattice. This discovery represents a major advancement for solid-state Na(+) fast-ion conduction at technologically relevant device temperatures.