Stabilization of cubic lithium-stuffed garnets of the type “Li7La3Zr2O12” by addition of gallium

Abstract Cubic lithium-stuffed garnets of the type Li7La3Zr2O12 have been successfully stabilized by incorporation of gallium. The materials have been prepared by a sol-gel procedure with final calcination at 1085 °C for 6 h. Under the applied synthesis conditions, 0.3 mole of gallium ions (per mole of Li7La3Zr2O12) were sufficient to fully stabilize the cubic garnet-type phase. Increasing the fraction of gallium led to significant improvement of sinterability and lithium ion conductivity. Excess gallium ions, in the form of LiGaO2, act as a sintering aid and reside exclusively at the grain boundaries. The gallium-modified garnets showed conductivities up to 5.4 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 20 °C, and activation energies in the range 0.32–0.37 eV.