INSITU X-RAY STUDIES ON THE FORMATION OF LAYERED CSX(H2O)Y[NBS2] VIA STAGING INTERMEDIATES

Single crystal and powder electrodes of 2H-NbS2 have been intercalated with hydrated Cs+ ions forming Csx(H2O)y[NbS2]. Structural investigations have been performed in situ during the intercalation reaction on single crystals which were aligned on a powder diffractometer in a specially equipped electrochemical cell. Several intermediate phases were obtained, showing a complex X-ray pattern with sharp, broad, and diffuse reflection profiles simultaneously, which also do not fit to integral hkl values. They can be interpreted, however, assuming a statistical disordered layer sequence of fully occupied and empty interlayer gaps. The structural disorder is confirmed by simulation calculations of the X-ray patterns. © 1992 Academic Press, Inc.