α-Na₃M₂(PO₄)₃ (M = Ti, Fe): Absolute Cationic Ordering in NASICON-Type Phases

Abstract

The structure of the fully ordered α-Na(3)Ti(2)(PO(4))(3) NASICON compound was elucidated using high-quality single-crystal data. The cation/vacancy distribution forms a homogeneous 3D arrangement and could represent the absolute cationic ordering available in the full Na(3)M(2)(PO(4))(3) series, as verified for M = Fe. For M = Ti, the reversible α → γ transition was observed at 85 °C, leading to the standard disordered R ̅3c γ model. Through JPDF analysis, the most probable Na(+) zigzag M(2)-M(1) diffusion scheme was directly deduced using our accurate crystallographic data.