VOLUME EFFECT OR PADDLE-WHEEL MECHANISM - FAST ALKALI-METAL IONIC-CONDUCTION IN SOLIDS WITH ROTATIONALLY DISORDERED COMPLEX ANIONS

Transport phenomena in the solid state are of equal importance in basic research and practice. In the past two decades particular interest has been directed towards so-called ''fast'' or ''super'' ionic conductors because of their attractive potential applications. We have synthesized highly conductive alkali-metal ionic conductors based on ionic crystals in which, on the one hand, high concentrations of the charge carriers can be realized by doping (point defects in the cation substructure) and, on the other, the activation energy of the interchange of sites is decreased by translationally fixed but rotationally mobile complex anions. Mixed crystals with Na3PO4 or Na3AlF6 structures have proven especially suitable in this connection. With the object of establishing a broader experimental foundation for clarifying the controversially discussed question of whether the higher free transport volume or the rotational motion of the anions is responsible for the high cation mobility in these rotary phases we have systematically varied the type of anions and concentration of defects and monitored the resulting changes in conductivity. Although the macroscopical characteristics investigated are not suitable for explaining mechanisms in detail at the atomic level, the results afford clear support for the assumption of a ''paddle wheel mechanism''; but also effects of the enlarged transport volume are not to be disputed. Both these effects enhancing the cationic conductivity are concomitantly operative in amounts varying from system to system; they cannot be totally separated from each other. Seen in this light, the alternative, ''volume effect'' or ''paddle wheel mechanism,'' is not as sharply defined as was previously discussed.