Combined mechanochemical/thermal synthesis of microcrystalline pyroxene LiFeSi2O6 and one-step mechanosynthesis of nanoglassy LiFeSi2O6−based composite

Both, microcrystalline LiFeSi2O6 pyroxene and nanoglassy LiFeSi2O6−based composite are prepared via non-conventional mechanochemical/thermal processing and one-step mechanosynthesis, respectively. The structural state of the as-prepared materials on the long-range and local atomic scales is characterized by XRD and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, respectively. The derived hyperfine interaction parameters indicate that the nanoglassy nature of the mechanosynthesized LiFeSi2O6−based composite is characterized, on the short-range scale, by a broadly distorted geometry of the constituent structural units, and on the long-range scale, by the raptured chains of the edge-sharing FeO6 octahedra and of the corner-sharing SiO4 tetrahedra. [Display omitted] •Preparation of microcrystalline and nanoglassy LiFeSi2O6 pyroxene.•Non-conventional mechanochemical/thermal processing and one-step mechanosynthesis.•Characterization on a local atomic scale via nuclear 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy.