ABSTRACT
[Cd3Cu]CuP10, a polyphosphide containing adamantine-analogue [P10] unit undergoes a solid-state polymerization to form [P6] rings and tubular [P26] polymer units at elevated temperatures. This reaction represents the rare case of a polyphosphide polymerization in the solid state. The formation of such a polymeric unit starting from a molecular precursor is the first evidence of the general possibility to perform a bottom-up route to the well-known tubular polyphosphide units of elemental phosphorus in a solid material. Temperature-dependent X-ray powder diffraction experiments substantiate the solid phase transformation of [Cd3Cu]CuP10 starting at 550 °C to the polymerized form via an additional intermediate step. A single crystal structure determination of the quenched product at room temperature was performed to evaluate the structural properties and the resulting polyphosphide units. The full polymerization and decomposition mechanism has been analyzed by thermogravimetric experiments and subsequent X-ray powder phase analyses. The present [P26] polymer unit represents a former unseen one-dimensional cut-out of the two-dimensional polyphosphide substructure of Ag3P11 and can be directly related to the tubular polyphosphide substructures of violet or fibrous phosphorus.
ABSTRACT
The silver zinc hexa-deca-phosphide Ag3.73(4)Zn2.27(4)P16 is the first polyphosphide in the ternary system Ag/Zn/P. It was synthesized from stoichiometric mixtures of Ag, Zn and P in the molar ratio 4:2:16, using AgI as a mineralizing agent in a gas-phase-assisted reaction. Ag3.73(4)Zn2.27(4)P16 crystallizes in the Cu5InP16 structure type. The asymmetric unit contains two Ag/Zn sites with mixed occupancies and four P sites. One of the Ag/Zn sites is located on a twofold rotation axis. The polyanionic [P16]-substructure consists of corrugated six-membered rings that are connected into a layer via the 1-, 2-, 4- and 5-positions of the rings by a bridging P atom in each case. The layers extend parallel to the bc plane and are stacked along the a axis. Both Ag/Zn sites are tetra-hedrally coordinated by P atoms.
ABSTRACT
Semiconductors are key materials in modern electronics and are widely used to build, for instance, transistors in integrated circuits as well as thermoelectric materials for energy conversion, and there is a tremendous interest in the development and improvement of novel materials and technologies to increase the performance of electronic devices and thermoelectrics. Tetramorphic Ag(10)Te(4)Br(3) is a semiconductor capable of switching its electrical properties by a simple change of temperature. The combination of high silver mobility, a small non-stoichiometry range and an internal redox process in the tellurium substructure causes a thermopower drop of 1,400 microV K(-1), in addition to a thermal diffusivity in the range of organic polymers. The capability to reversibly switch semiconducting properties from ionic to electronic conduction in one single compound simply by virtue of temperature enables novel electronic devices such as semiconductor switches.
ABSTRACT
Two new silver (poly)chalcogenide halides, Ag23Te12Cl and Ag23Te12Br, were characterized by powder X-ray phase analysis, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and crystal structure determinations at various temperatures. Thermal analyses of both compounds and electrochemical measurements for the bromide completed the investigation. The compounds Ag23Te12X (X = Cl, Br) are isostructural and crystallize orthorhombically (space group Pnnm, Z = 4) as systematic twins. The lattice parameter values derived from X-ray powder data were a = 21.214(2) A, b = 21.218(2) A, c = 7.7086(7) A, and V = 3469.8(6) A (3) for Ag23Te12Cl at 293 K and a = 21.170(1) A, b = 21.170(1) A, c = 7.7458(5) A, and V = 3471.4(4) A (3) for Ag23Te12Br at 298 K. An enhanced silver ion mobility was revealed by impedance spectroscopy investigations. No phase transitions were observed in the temperature range 100-750 K. These two silver(I) (poly)chalcogenide halides are the second set of representatives of a new class of coinage-metal (poly)chalcogenide halides in which both covalently bonded [Te2](2-) dumbbells and ionically bonded Te(2-) anions appear.
