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Title: Synthesis, crystal chemistry, and optical properties of two methylammonium silver halides: CH 3 NH 3 AgBr 2 and CH 3 NH 3 Ag 2 I 3

Two novel ternary compounds from the pseudobinary CH3NH3X–AgX (X = Br, I) phase diagrams are reported. CH3NH3AgBr2 and CH3NH3Ag2I3 were synthesized via solid state sealed tube reactions and the crystal structures were determined through a combination of single crystal and synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. Structurally, both compounds consist of one-dimensional ribbons built from silvercentered tetrahedra. The structure of CH3NH3AgBr2 possesses orthorhombic Pnma symmetry and is made up of zig-zag chains where each silver bromide tetrahedron shares two edges with neighboring tetrahedra. The tetrahedral coordination of silver is retained in CH3NH3Ag2I3, which has monoclinic P21/m symmetry, but the change in stoichiometry leads to a greater degree of edge-sharing connectivity within the silver iodide chains. With band gaps of 3.3 eV (CH3NH3Ag2I3) and 4.0 eV (CH3NH3AgBr2) the absorption onsets of the ternary phases are significantly blue shifted from the binary silver halides, AgBr and AgI, due in part to the decrease in electronic dimensionality. The compounds are stable for at least one month under ambient conditions and are thermally stable up to approximately 200 1C. Density functional theory calculations reveal very narrow valence bands and moderately disperse conduction bands with Ag 5s character. Bond valence calculations are used to analyze the hydrogen bonding between methylammonium cations and coordinatively unsaturated halide ions. The crystal chemistry of these compounds helps to explain the dearth of iodide double perovskites in the literature.

 
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Award ID(s):
2003793
NSF-PAR ID:
10477713
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Royal Society of Chemistry
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Journal of Materials Chemistry C
Volume:
9
Issue:
29
ISSN:
2050-7526
Page Range / eLocation ID:
9251 to 9260
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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