TY - JOUR A1 - Scherb, Tobias A1 - Kimber, S. A. J. A1 - Stephan, Christiane A1 - Henry, P. F. A1 - Schumacher, G. A1 - Escolástico, S. A1 - Serra, J. M. A1 - Seeger, J. A1 - Just, J. A1 - Hill, A.H. A1 - Banhart, J. T1 - Nanoscale order in the frustrated mixed conductor La5.6WO12-Delta N2 - This article reports a comprehensive investigation of the average and local structure of La5.6WO12-δ, which has excellent mixed proton, electron and oxide ion conduction suitable for device applications. Synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction show that a cubic fluorite supercell describes the average structure, with highly disordered lanthanum and oxide positions. On average, the tungsten sites are sixfold coordinated and a trace [3.7 (1.3)%] of anti-site disorder is detected. In addition to sharp Bragg reflections, strong diffuse neutron scattering is observed, which hints at short-range order. Plausible local configurations are considered and it is shown that the defect chemistry implies a simple 'chemical exchange' interaction that favours ordered WO6 octahedra. The local model is confirmed by synchrotron X-ray pair distribution function analysis and EXAFS experiments performed at the La K and W L-3 edges. It is shown that ordered domains of similar to 3.5 nm are found, implying that mixed conduction in La5.6WO12-δ is associated with a defective glassy-like anion sublattice. The origins of this ground state are proposed to lie in the nonbipartite nature of the face-centred cubic lattice and the pairwise interactions which link the orientation of neighbouring octahedral WO6 sites. This 'function through frustration' could provide a means of designing new mixed conductors. KW - neutron diffraction KW - x-ray diffraction KW - proton conductors PY - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-366756 SN - 1600-5767 VL - 49 IS - Issue 3 SP - 997 EP - 1008 PB - International Union of Crystallography CY - Chester, UK AN - OPUS4-36675 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -