Lithium tritelluride

Last updated
Lithium tritelluride
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
  • [Li].[Te].[Te].[Te]
Properties
LiTe3
Molar mass 389.74 g·mol−1
Related compounds
Related compounds
lithium telluride
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

Lithium tritelluride is an intercalary compound of lithium and tellurium with empirical formula LiTe
3
. It is one of three known members of the Li-Te system, the others being the raw metals and lithium telluride (Li
2
Te
).

LiTe3 was first discovered in 1969 by researchers at the US Atomic Energy Commission. [1] Research into the compound has been primarily driven by the possibility of using molten tellurium salts to cool a nuclear reactor. [2] [3]

Lithium tritelluride can be synthesized by heating a mixture of the appropriate stoichiometry. It is unstable below 304 °C; if left below that temperature, it will decompose, releasing tellurium vapor. [2] [3]

Structurally, lithium tritelluride is composed of parallel graphene-like planes of tellurium. Atoms in these planes are aligned to form "vertical" columns of tellurium; the lithium ions then form columns running through the center of each tellurium hexagon. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tellurium</span> Chemical element, symbol Te and atomic number 52

Tellurium is a chemical element with the symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur, all three of which are chalcogens. It is occasionally found in its native form as elemental crystals. Tellurium is far more common in the Universe as a whole than on Earth. Its extreme rarity in the Earth's crust, comparable to that of platinum, is due partly to its formation of a volatile hydride that caused tellurium to be lost to space as a gas during the hot nebular formation of Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium aluminium hydride</span> Chemical compound

Lithium aluminium hydride, commonly abbreviated to LAH, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Li[AlH4] or LiAlH4. It is a white solid, discovered by Finholt, Bond and Schlesinger in 1947. This compound is used as a reducing agent in organic synthesis, especially for the reduction of esters, carboxylic acids, and amides. The solid is dangerously reactive toward water, releasing gaseous hydrogen (H2). Some related derivatives have been discussed for hydrogen storage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinitrogen pentoxide</span> Chemical compound

Dinitrogen pentoxide is the chemical compound with the formula N2O5. It is one of the binary nitrogen oxides, a family of compounds that only contain nitrogen and oxygen. It exists as colourless crystals that sublime slightly above room temperature, yielding a colorless gas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bismuth telluride</span> Chemical compound

Bismuth telluride is a gray powder that is a compound of bismuth and tellurium also known as bismuth(III) telluride. It is a semiconductor, which, when alloyed with antimony or selenium, is an efficient thermoelectric material for refrigeration or portable power generation. Bi2Te3 is a topological insulator, and thus exhibits thickness-dependent physical properties.

Thallium(I) telluride (Tl2Te) is a chemical compound of thallium and tellurium. It has a structure related to that of Tl5Te3. This compound is not well characterized. Its existence has only recently been confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry.

Rubidium telluride is the inorganic compound with the formula Rb2Te. It is a yellow-green powder that melts at either 775 °C or 880 °C (two different values have been reported). It is an obscure material of minor academic interest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aluminium hydride</span> Chemical compound

Aluminium hydride (also known as alane and alumane) is an inorganic compound with the formula AlH3. Alane and its derivatives are common reducing (hydride addition) reagents in organic synthesis that are used in solution at both laboratory and industrial scales. In solution—typically in etherial solvents such tetrahydrofuran or diethyl ether—aluminium hydride forms complexes with Lewis bases, and reacts selectively with particular organic functional groups (e.g., with carboxylic acids and esters over organic halides and nitro groups), and although it is not a reagent of choice, it can react with carbon-carbon multiple bonds (i.e., through hydroalumination). Given its density, and with hydrogen content on the order of 10% by weight, some forms of alane are, as of 2016, active candidates for storing hydrogen and so for power generation in fuel cell applications, including electric vehicles. As of 2006 it was noted that further research was required to identify an efficient, economical way to reverse the process, regenerating alane from spent aluminium product.

Lithium superoxide is an unstable inorganic salt with formula LiO2. A radical compound, it can be produced at low temperature in matrix isolation experiments, or in certain nonpolar, non-protic solvents. Lithium superoxide is also a transient species during the reduction of oxygen in a lithium–air galvanic cell, and serves as a main constraint on possible solvents for such a battery. For this reason, it has been investigated thoroughly using a variety of methods, both theoretical and spectroscopic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium nitride</span> Chemical compound

Sodium nitride is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula Na3N. In contrast to lithium nitride and some other nitrides, sodium nitride is an extremely unstable alkali metal nitride. It can be generated by combining atomic beams of sodium and nitrogen deposited onto a low-temperature sapphire substrate. It readily decomposes into its elements:

Organotellurium chemistry describes the synthesis and properties of organotellurium compounds, chemical compounds containing a carbon-tellurium chemical bond. Organotellurium chemistry is a lightly studied area, in part because of it having few applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium titanate</span> Chemical compound

Lithium titanates are chemical compounds of lithium, titanium and oxygen. They are mixed oxides and belong to the titanates. The most important lithium titanates are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antimony telluride</span> Chemical compound

Antimony telluride is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Sb2Te3. As is true of other pnictogen chalcogenide layered materials, it is a grey crystalline solid with layered structure. Layers consist of two atomic sheets of antimony and three atomic sheets of tellurium and are held together by weak van der Waals forces. Sb2Te3 is a narrow-gap semiconductor with a band gap 0.21 eV; it is also a topological insulator, and thus exhibits thickness-dependent physical properties.

Binary compounds of hydrogen are binary chemical compounds containing just hydrogen and one other chemical element. By convention all binary hydrogen compounds are called hydrides even when the hydrogen atom in it is not an anion. These hydrogen compounds can be grouped into several types.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binary compounds of silicon</span> Any binary chemical compound containing just silicon and another chemical element

Binary compounds of silicon are binary chemical compounds containing silicon and one other chemical element. Technically the term silicide is reserved for any compounds containing silicon bonded to a more electropositive element. Binary silicon compounds can be grouped into several classes. Saltlike silicides are formed with the electropositive s-block metals. Covalent silicides and silicon compounds occur with hydrogen and the elements in groups 10 to 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molybdenum ditelluride</span> Chemical compound

Molybdenum(IV) telluride, molybdenum ditelluride or just molybdenum telluride is a compound of molybdenum and tellurium with formula MoTe2, corresponding to a mass percentage of 27.32% molybdenum and 72.68% tellurium. It can crystallise in two dimensional sheets which can be thinned down to monolayers that are flexible and almost transparent. It is a semiconductor, and can fluoresce. It is part of a class of materials called transition metal dichalcogenides. As a semiconductor the band gap lies in the infrared region. This raises the potential use as a semiconductor in electronics or an infrared detector.

Tellurium compounds are compounds containing the element tellurium (Te). Tellurium belongs to the chalcogen family of elements on the periodic table, which also includes oxygen, sulfur, selenium and polonium: Tellurium and selenium compounds are similar. Tellurium exhibits the oxidation states −2, +2, +4 and +6, with +4 being most common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium iridate</span> Chemical compound

Lithium iridate, Li2IrO3, is a chemical compound of lithium, iridium and oxygen. It forms black crystals with three slightly different layered atomic structures, α, β, and sometimes γ. Lithium iridate exhibits metal-like, temperature-independent electrical conductivity, and changes its magnetic ordering from paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic upon cooling to 15 K.

The telluride bromides are chemical compounds that contain both telluride ions (Te2−) and bromide ions (Br). They are in the class of mixed anion compounds or chalcogenide halides.

Lithium telluride (Li2Te) is an inorganic compound of lithium and tellurium. Along with LiTe3, it is one of the two intermediate solid phases in the lithium-tellurium system. It can be prepared by directly reacting lithium and tellurium in a beryllium oxide crucible at 950°C.

Tellurogallates are chemical compounds which contain anionic units of tellurium connected to gallium. They can be considered as gallates where tellurium substitutes for oxygen. Similar compounds include the thiogallates, selenogallates, telluroaluminates, telluroindates and thiostannates. They are in the category of chalcogenotrielates or more broadly tellurometallates or chalcogenometallates.

References

  1. Foster, M. S.; Johnson, C. E.; Davis, K. A.; Peck, J.; Schablaske, R. (1969). (Technical report). USAEC. p. 141. ANL-7575.{{cite techreport}}: Missing or empty |title= (help), as cited in Valentine, Cavin & Yakel 1977.
  2. 1 2 Hitch, B. F.; Toth, L. M.; Brynestad, J. (1978). "The Decomposition Equilibrium of LiTe3". J. Inorg. Nucl. Chem. Great Britain: Pergamon Press. 40: 31–34. doi:10.1016/0022-1902(78)80301-7 via Elsevier ScienceDirect. See also Cunningham, P. T.; Johnson, S. A.; Cairns, E. J. (March 1973). "Phase Equilibria in Chalcogen Systems III: Lithium-Tellurium". J. Electrochem. Soc. The Electrochemical Society. 120: 328. doi:10.1149/1.2403448.
  3. 1 2 Sangster, J.; Pelton, A. D. (1992). "The Li-Te (Lithium-Tellurium) System". Section II: Phase Diagram Evaluations. Journal of Phase Equilibria. Springer. 13 (3): 300–303. doi:10.1007/BF02667559. S2CID   97799347.
  4. Valentine, Diane Y.; Cavin, O. Burl; Yakel, Harry L. (1977). "On the Crystal Structure of LiTe3". Acta Crystallogr. Wiley. B33 (5): 1389–1396. doi: 10.1107/S0567740877006141 . S2CID   98036149.