Investigation of MnPS3 intercalates with pyridinium ion

This work investigates synthesizing of MnPS3 layered compound and its intercalation with pyridinium ion (PyH+). The XRD results indicate that there are four phases due to intercalation with different d-spacing, d=9.7, 10.6, 7.3 and 12.3 Å. These phases are related to the guest positions in the interlayer of the P2S64−, except the d=7.3 Å phase. There are some factors help to control the intercalation and orientation of intercalated compound, such as, temperature during XRD scan and stirring time. The guest intercalation leads to a change in symmetry of the host lattice from C2/m to R3m. The XRD pattern (d=9.7 Å) for the resultant compound of the formula, Mn0.854PS3(PyH+)0.293(H2O)0.322 (x=0.146 and y=0.322) indicates that the intercalated compound could be described by a trigonal unit cell and the lattice parameters a=b=3.50263 Å, c=29.07435 Å and γ=120°. As well as, the trigonal unit cell could describe the other phases with different c-parameter length of each phase. IR spectra confirmed the intercalation.