Study of Defect Chemistry in the System La<inf>2- x</inf>Sr<inf>x</inf>NiO<inf>4+δ</inf> by ¹⁷O Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy and Ni K-Edge XANES

Abstract

The properties of mixed ionic-electronic conductors (MIECs) are most conveniently controlled through site-specific aliovalent substitution, yet few techniques can report directly on the local structure and defect chemistry underpinning changes in ionic and electronic conductivity. In this work, we perform high-resolution17O (I = 5/2) solid-state NMR spectroscopy of La2-xSrxNiO4+δ, an MIEC and prospective solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathode material, showing the sensitivity of17O hyperfine (Fermi contact) shifts and quadrupolar coupling constants due to local structural changes arising from Sr substitution (x). Previously, we resolved resonances from three distinct oxygen sites (interstitial, axial, and equatorial) in the unsubstituted x = 0 material (Halat et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 11958). Here, substitution-induced changes in these three spectral features indirectly report on the ionic conductivity, local octahedral tilting, and electronic conductivity, respectively, of the (substituted) materials. In particular, the intensity of the17O resonance arising from mobile interstitial defects decreases, and then disappears, at x = 0.5, consistent with reports of lower bulk ionic conductivity in Sr-substituted phases. Second, local distortions among the split axial oxygen sites diminish, even on modest incorporation of Sr (x < 0.1), which is also accompanied by faster spin-lattice (T1) relaxation of the interstitial17O resonances, indicating increased mobility of the associated sites. Finally, the hyperfine shift of the equatorial oxygen resonance decreases due to conversion of Ni2+(d8) to Ni3+(d7) by charge compensation, a mechanism associated with improved electronic conductivity in the Sr-substituted phases. Valence and coordination changes of the Ni cations are further supported by Ni K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) measurements, which show a decrease in the Jahn-Teller distortion of the Ni3+sites and a Ni coordination change consistent with the formation of oxygen vacancies. Ultimately, these insights into local atomic and electronic structure that rely on17O solid-state NMR spectroscopy should prove relevant for a broad range of aliovalently substituted functional paramagnetic oxides.