Crystal structure and ionic conductivity of Mg-doped apatite-type lanthanum silicates LaloSi6-xMgxO27-x （x= 0-0.4）

Lanthanum silicates La10Si6-xMgxO27-x(x = 0–0.4) were prepared by solid state synthesis to investigate the effect of Mg doping on crystal structure and ionic conductivity. Rietveld analysis of the powder XRD patterns reveals that Mg substitution on Si site results in significant enlargement of channel triangles, favoring oxide-ion conduction. Furthermore,an increase of Mg concentration significantly influences the linear density of interstitial oxygen, which plays an important role in ionic conductivity. The Arrhenius plots of La10Si6-xMgxO27-x(x = 0–0.4) suggest that Mg-doped samples present higher conductivity and lower activation energy than non-doped La10Si6O27, and La10Si5.8Mg0.2O26.8exhibits the highest conductivity with a value of 3.0×10-2S ·cm-1at 700?C. Such conductive behavior agrees well with the refined results.The corresponding mechanism has been discussed in this paper.