(C3H7NH3)4Bi1-xSbxI9: 0D hybrid halide perovskite-like compounds with isolated triiodide units.

Abstract

Antimony/bismuth-based organic-inorganic hybrid halide perovskite-like compounds have generated enormous research interest due to their excellent optical properties. Exploration of new compounds and understanding of their structural stability and optoelectronic properties is of utmost importance for practical applications of these materials. We report two new 0D perovskite-like compounds and their solid solution, (C3H7NH3)4Bi1-xSbxI9, having propyl amine as the spacer cation and iodine as the halide ion. All compounds crystallized in the space group C2/m at room temperature and undergo a phase transition from C2/m to P21/c at low temperature (90 K) as observed from the single-crystal study. A low-temperature (250 K, 180 K, 150 K and 90 K) single-crystal study shows that the (PA)4BiI9 compound retains the monoclinic space group C2/m until 150 K and undergoes a phase transition to the P21/c space group at 90 K. Further, it is observed that ordering, rearrangement and relaxation of the long-chain propyl amine group are primarily responsible for the structural transition. The structure contains [(Bi/Sb)I6]3- polyhedra along with linear I3- units, giving rise to the formula of (PA)3(Bi/Sb)I6·(PA)I3. The I3- units interact poorly while the [MI6]3- (M = Bi, Sb) octahedral units interact significantly with spacer cations via the H-bond, resulting in more distortion in these octahedral units. Theoretical calculations revealed that iodide ions have dual roles and contribute largely to both the valence band maxima and conduction band minima in these compounds. From both experimental and theoretical calculations, it is observed that the pristine compounds are of the indirect band gap-type and Sb substitution in (PA)4Bi1-xSbxI9 led to a gradual decrease in the band gap.