TOPOTACTIC H /Li ION EXCHANGE ON La 2/3x Li 3x TiO 3 : NEW METASTABLE PEROVSKITE PHASES La 2/3x TiO 33x (OH) 3x AND La 2/3x TiO 33x/2 OBTAINED BY FURTHER DEHYDRATION N.S.P. Bhuvanesh 1 , O. Bohnke ´ 1 , H. Duroy 1 , M.P. Crosnier-Lopez 1 , J. Emery 2 , and J.L. Fourquet 1 * 1 Laboratoire des Fluorures (UPRESA 6010, CNRS); 2 Laboratoire de Physique de l’Etat Condense ´ (UPRESA 6087, CNRS), Faculte ´ des Sciences du Mans, Universite ´ du Maine, Avenue O. Messiaen, 72085 Le Mans Cedex 9, France (Refereed) (Received February 23, 1998; Accepted March 23, 1998) ABSTRACT We have synthesized novel La 2/3-x TiO 3-3x (OH) 3x (0.07 x 0.13) com- pounds by ion exchange of the lithium ions from La 2/3-x Li 3x TiO 3 in dilute HNO 3 at 60°C. The proton derivatives crystallize in tetragonal perovskite cells (a a p , c 2a p ) similar to those of the parent oxides. Interestingly, the protonated oxides (characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravi- metric analysis (TGA), and 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) yield new metastable A-site- and oxygen-deficient perovskites La 2/3-x TiO 3-3x/2 at about 800°C. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd KEYWORDS: A. oxides, B. chemical synthesis, C. X-ray diffraction, D. defects, D. ionic conductivity INTRODUCTION The lithium lanthanum titanates of the series La 2/3-x Li 3x TiO 3 (LLTO) have received a considerable attention in recent years [1– 4], in view of interest in their structure [3-8] and high lithium ion conduction [1,2,9,10]. A maximum value of conductivity, = 3.9 10 -4 Scm -1 at 300 K has been reported [10] for the composition with x = 0.10. These oxides *To whom correspondence should be addressed. Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 11, pp. 1681–1691, 1998 Copyright © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0025-5408/98 $19.00 + .00 PII S0025-5408(98)00170-6 1681