Intercalation of polyethylene oxide PEO in layered MPS3 (M = Ni, Fe) materials

The intercalation compounds Li0.96(H2O)0.77(PEO)0.63Ni0.48PS3 and Li0.94(H2O)0.92(PEO)0.94Fe0.48PS3 obtained by the insertion of PEO in MPS3 form lithium-polyethylene oxide complexes containing Li+ exchangeable cation in the interlayer space. Polyethylene oxide (PEO) is able to associate interlayer cation increasing the ionic conductivity of NiPS3 and FePS3. These compounds constitute a new family of intercalates MPS3 (M = Ni, Fe) host-layer materials. The new materials were characterized by powder X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transformed infrared (FT-IR), differential thermal and thermogravimetric analyses (DTA/TG), energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and electrochemical impedance measurements. The intercalation compound Li0.96(H2O)0.77(PEO)0.63Ni0.48PS3 shows an ionic conductivity of 0.13 μS/cm, and dc electronic conductivity of ca. 0.1 μS/cm which is twice that of NiPS3