Pair distribution function analysis of sulfide glassy electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries: Understanding the improvement of ionic conductivity under annealing condition

In general, the ionic conductivity of sulfide glasses decreases with their crystallization, although it increases for a few sulphide glasses owing to the crystallization of a highly conductive new phase (e.g., Li7P3S11: 70Li(2)S-30P(2)S(5)). We found that the ionic conductivity of 75Li(2)S-25P(2)S(5) sulfide glass, which consists of glassy and crystalline phases, is improved by optimizing the conditions of the heat treatment, i.e., annealing. A different mechanism of high ionic conductivity from the conventional mechanism is expected in the glassy phase. Here, we report the glassy structure of 75Li(2)S-25P(2)S(5) immediately before the crystallization by using the differential pair distribution function (d-PDF) analysis of high-energy X-ray diffraction. Even though the ionic conductivity increases during the optimum annealing, the d-PDF analysis indicated that the glassy structure undergoes no structural change in the sulfide glass-ceramic electrolyte at a crystallinity of 33.1%. We observed the formation of a nanocrystalline phase in the X-ray and electron diffraction patterns before the crystallization, which means that Bragg peaks were deformed. Thus, the ionic conductivity in the mixture of glassy and crystalline phases is improved by the coexistence of the nanocrystalline phase.