Intercalation of polyethylene oxide in layered thiophosphate of Bi and Sb

Abstract

The intercalation compounds Li0.43(PEO)2.4(H2O)1.4K0.57BiP2S6 and Li0.38(PEO)2.1(H2O)1.6K0.62SbP2S6 have been synthesized by the insertion of polyethylene oxide PEO in LiKMP2S6 (M=Bi, Sb), that contained Li+ and K+ exchangeable cations in their interlayer space. The polymer PEO is able to associate interlayer Li+ cation modifying the ionic conductivity of pristine phases. These intercalation compounds constitute a new family of intercalates in the thiophosphate of Bi and Sb with Polyethylene oxide as guest species. They have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, FTIR-Raman, DTA/TGA analysis and electrical conductivity measurements. The studied nanocomposite shows values of electrical conductivity (σi ) of about 10-6 Ω-1 cm-1 at room temperature.