DOE OSTI2020
Li3PS4 is Aluminum carbonitride-like structured and crystallizes in the orthorhombic Pnma space group. The structure is three-dimensional. there are two inequivalent Li1+ sites. In the first Li1+ site, Li1+ is bonded to four S2- atoms to form LiS4 tetrahedra that share corners with four equivalent LiS6 octahedra, corners with two equivalent PS4 tetrahedra, corners with four equivalent LiS4 tetrahedra, an edgeedge with one LiS6 octahedra, and an edgeedge with one PS4 tetrahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 18–54°. There are a spread of Li–S bond distances ranging from 2.46–2.49 Å. In the second Li1+ site, Li1+ is bonded to six S2- atoms to form distorted LiS6 octahedra that share corners with two equivalent PS4 tetrahedra, corners with eight equivalent LiS4 tetrahedra, edges with two equivalent LiS6 octahedra, edges with two equivalent LiS4 tetrahedra, and edges with two equivalent PS4 tetrahedra. There are a spread of Li–S bond distances ranging from 2.47–3.17 Å. P5+ is bonded to four S2- atoms to form PS4 tetrahedra that share corners with two equivalent LiS6 octahedra, corners with four equivalent LiS4 tetrahedra, edges with two equivalent LiS6 octahedra, and edges with two equivalent LiS4 tetrahedra. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 53°. There are a spread of P–S bond distances ranging from 2.04–2.10 Å. There are three inequivalent S2- sites. In the first S2- site, S2- is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to four Li1+ and one P5+ atom. In the second S2- site, S2- is bonded to four Li1+ and one P5+ atom to form distorted SLi4P trigonal bipyramids that share corners with two equivalent SLi4P trigonal bipyramids, corners with six equivalent SLi3P trigonal pyramids, and edges with two equivalent SLi3P trigonal pyramids. In the third S2- site, S2- is bonded to three Li1+ and one P5+ atom to form distorted SLi3P trigonal pyramids that share corners with three equivalent SLi4P trigonal bipyramids, corners with four equivalent SLi3P trigonal pyramids, and an edgeedge with one SLi4P trigonal bipyramid.