Cation Excahge Reaction of LiSbO3-like Phases

LiSbO3 adopts a honeycomb-like crystal structure with lithium channels along both the a and c directions, suggesting a high level of lithium mobility. In addition, its 3D network of connected SbO6 units provides strong structural stability, making it a promising host for cation exchange reactions. Noting that Li₂TiTeO₆ and Li₂SnTeO₆ also adopt cation-ordered LiSbO₃-type structures, these three compounds have been systematically explored as hosts for cation exchange reactions with different divalent first-row transition metals. As a result, we have prepared 7 novel cation-exchanged materials: ZnTiTeO6, ZnSnTeO6, MnSnTeO6, NiSnTeO6, CoSnTeO6, CoTiTeO6 and CoSb2O6. These new phases adopt a range of different cation-ordered structures and distortions of the LiSbO3-like structural framework. We propose to collect neutron powder diffraction data to determine their accurate crystal structures so we can understand the chemical drivers for the different structures adopted.