Photo-electroactive ternary chalcogenido-indate-stannates with a unique 2-D porous structure

A lot of ternary In–Sb–Q (Q = S, Se) chalcogenido-metalates with amines or complex cations have been recently reported for their diverse structures, however, such a type of In–Sn–Q chalcogenido-metalate has been rarely announced. Herein, we report a series of 2-D In–Sn–Q compounds prepared using a metal–phenanthroline cationic template, [M(Phen)3](In2Sn2Q8)·(amine)·nH2O (M = Ni(II), Fe(II) or Co(II); amine = cyclohexylamine (Cha) or 1,6-diaminohexane (Dah); Q = S or Se). Their anions are isostructural and a 2-D porous network with large 16-tetrahedron-rings. The 2-D network joint of In–Sn–Q is a (In/Sn)3Q3 six-membered ring, which is different from the Sn3Q4 pseudosemicube of most 2-D Sn–Q binary compounds. The materials exhibit photocurrent response properties measured using a photo-electrochemical cell. The result shows that (1) the selenides exhibit more intense photocurrents than the sulfides and (2) the current intensity is related to the metal–phenanthroline cations.