LiY(SO$_4$)$_2$: A Superionic Material Synthesized by Superionic State Hidden in no-Superionic Literature

Abstract

A potential superionic material LiY(SO$_4$)$_2$ has been excavated from the published literatures because its synthesis method and experiment data implied it exists the superionic state. We use \textit{ab initio} calculation to analyzing the differences between solid state and superionic state. We found the diffusion of Li$^+$ from the lattice site to the interstitial site will change the nearest neighbor numbers of O atom from 4 to 8. In order to reduce energy, the reorientation of SO$_4^{2-}$ must exist accompany with the diffusion of Li$^+$ so the nearest neighbor number of O will keep about 5 in the superionic state. Our work not only presents an example for discovering materials from literatures based on prior knowledge but also reveals the micromechanism of cation-anion coupled dynamics for superionic state.