LISICON (lithium zinc germanate) Li₁₄Zn(GeO₄)₄

Unit cell

Lattice constants

a = 10.828 Å, b = 6.251 Å, c = 5.140 Å; α = 90°, β = 90°, γ = 90°

Cell volume

347.9 ų

Atoms in the cell

36 (O 16, Li 16, Ge 4)

Formula units Z

4

Calculated density

1.75 g cm⁻³

Shortest contact

1.737 Å

Coordination

O

CN 4 at 1.74 Å (1 Ge + 3 Li)

Li

CN 4 at 1.93 Å (4.25 O)

Ge

CN 4 at 1.74 Å (4 O)

About the structure

• Isolated GeO₄ tetrahedra in a γ-Li₃PO₄-type framework with Li⁺ and Zn²⁺ spread over several tetrahedral and interstitial sites — the extra Li beyond Li₃PO₄ stoichiometry is what moves.
• The original "LIthium Super-Ionic CONductor" (1978); its name was carried over to the whole family and to the thio-LISICONs of today's solid-state batteries. The Zn sites are only 2–14 % occupied in the refinement and the lowest Li site 16 %, so they are left out of the drawing; the formula names the real composition.
• Coordinates from the Crystallography Open Database, entry 1524557 (open data); hydrogen and water sites with partial occupancy below 0.5 are left out. Some sites are partially occupied in the real crystal.

Atom positions (fractional, one cell)

Z, coordination numbers, distances, density and packing on this page are computed from these coordinates.