Crystal growth and structure refinement of monoclinic Li2TiO3

Colorless platelet crystals of monoclinic Li2TiO3 with a maximum size of 5.0 mm x 5.0 mm x 0.5 mm were successfully grown by a flux method at 1373 K using a LiBO2-Li2O system flux. The stoichiometric chemical composition of Li2TiO3 was determined by the SEM-EDX, ICP-AES and density measurement using the single crystal samples. The thermal conductivity of the Li2TiO3 single crystals was evaluated using hot-disk method. A single-crystal X-ray diffraction study confirmed the monoclinic Li2SnO3-type structure, space group C2/c and the lattice parameters of a=5.0623(5) angstrom, b=8.7876(9) angstrom, c=9.7533(15) angstrom, P=100.212(11)degrees, and V=427.01(9) angstrom(3). The crystal structure was refined to the conventional values of R = 2.4% and wR = 3.3% for 2187 independent observed reflections. The cationic arrangement of (LiTi2) layers in Li2TiO3 was precisely revealed by the structure analysis. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.