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A new UK-wide programme

Join us for a discussion with Vera Chok, Daisy Hung and Anna Sulan Masing on race, identity and belonging. Chaired by poet Jennifer Wong.

Every child deserves to see themselves in books, and in the authors and illustrators whose work they read. The FAB Prize aims to discover and showcase new talent, closing the gap between what is curre...

In this paper, we build on previous work to characterize a phase with stoichiometry Li3(OH)2Br existing between ∼225 and ∼275 °C in the LiBr-LiOH phase diagram. Diffraction studies indicate that the phase takes a hexagonal unit cell, and theoretical modeling is used to suggest a possible crystal structure. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements demonstrate excellent lithium-ion dynamics in this phase, with an ionic conductivity of 0.12 S cm–1 at 250 °C. Initial attempts to stabilize this phase at room temperature through quenching were not successful. Instead, a metastable state demonstrating poor ionic conductivity is found to form. This is an important consideration for the synthesis of Li2OHBr solid-state electrolytes (also found in the LiBr-LiOH phase diagram) which are synthesized by cooling through phase fields containing Li3(OH)2Br, and are hence susceptible to these impurities.