Crystal growth and structure refinement of monoclinic Li2TiO3

Colorless platelet crystals of monoclinic Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} 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 LiBO{sub 2}-Li{sub 2}O system flux. The stoichiometric chemical composition of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} was determined by the SEM-EDX, ICP-AES and density measurement using the single crystal samples. The thermal conductivity of the Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} single crystals was evaluated using hot-disk method. A single-crystal X-ray diffraction study confirmed the monoclinic Li{sub 2}SnO{sub 3}-type structure, space group C2/c and the lattice parameters of a = 5.0623(5) A, b = 8.7876(9) A, c = 9.7533(15) A, {beta} = 100.212(11) deg., and V = 427.01(9) A{sup 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 (LiTi{sub 2}) layers in Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} was precisely revealed by the structure analysis.