Rhombohedral
Na
1+xZr
2-xI
nx(PO
4)
3 (
x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.6, a
nd 1.8) NASICONmaterials have bee
n studied by XRPD, variable-temperature NPD,
31P a
nd variable-temperature
23Na MAS NMR, a
nd impeda
nce spectroscopies. Relative
31P MAS NMR peaki
nte
nsities of the five detected sig
nals, attributed to the e
nviro
nme
nts [P(OZr)
4-n(OI
n)
n (
n= 0-4)], are close to those expected for a ra
ndom distributio
n of octahedral catio
ns. Thislocal probe allows us to rule out the existe
nce of segregated metal-rich
na
noregio
ns. Combi
nedNPD a
nd XRPD Rietveld studies showed that the occupatio
n of M2 sites by the extra Na
+catio
ns produces a slight distortio
n of the structure. Low temperatures freeze Na mobilitiesa
nd permit the assig
nme
nt of the resulti
ng NMR ba
nds to Na
+ i
n the M1 a
nd M2 sites. Themobility of Na at room temperature i
ncreases with the Na co
nte
nt. For samples with
x <0.8, Na io
ns are relatively localized; however, for
x ntities/ge.gif"> 0.8, Na mobility i
ncreases, yieldi
ng au
nique sig
nal i
n the
23Na NMR spectra. The i
ncrease of Na mobility causes spatial disorderat the M1 site as deduced from the variable-temperature NPD study. At low temperatures,the activatio
n e
nergies do
not cha
nge sig
nifica
ntly. So, the observed i
ncrease i
n bulkco
nductivity by 2 orders of mag
nitude i
n the low-temperature regime is ascribed to a
ni
ncrease of mobile carrier, Na
+, co
nce
ntratio
n. However, at higher temperatures a
new regimehas bee
n ide
ntified by NPD,
23Na MAS NMR, a
nd Arrhe
nius plots of
fmax data i
n Z' ' spectraa
nd is associated with more exte
nded sodium motio
n. The o
nset temperature for thecurvature i
n the
Z' '
fmax Arrhe
nius plots, whe
n reachi
ng the high-temperature regime,depe
nds o
n sodium co
nte
nt.