<p>While garnet Li ion
conductors are attracting considerable interest as potential solid state
electrolytes for Li ion batteries, a key challenge is to improve the
conductivity, which is associated with the Li content in the structure, and to
overcome the challenges of sintering dense electrolyte membranes. In this work
we show that Zn doping on the 16a octahedral Nb site leads to substantially
improved sintering in both Li<sub>5</sub>La<sub>3</sub>Nb<sub>2</sub>O<sub>12</sub>
and Li<sub>6</sub>La<sub>3</sub>ZrNbO<sub>12</sub>. As a result of the enhanced
sintering, and the associated increase in Li content, the conductivities in
both garnet systems were significantly enhanced on Zn doping, up to 2.1 x 10<sup>-4</sup>
Scm<sup>-1</sup> at 25 <sup>o</sup>C for Li<sub>6.6</sub>La<sub>3</sub>ZrNb<sub>0.8</sub>Zn<sub>0.2</sub>O<sub>12</sub>.
This doping strategy therefore represents a promising approach to improve the
relative density and, hence, ionic conductivity of garnet solid state
electrolyte materials for possible solid-state battery applications. </p>
Al/Ga-Doped Li7La3Zr2O12 Garnets as Li-Ion Solid-State Battery Electrolytes: Atomistic Insights into Local Coordination Environments and Their Influence on 17O, 27Al, and 71Ga NMR Spectra
