Some Novel Graphite Intercalation Compounds with Involatile Fluorides: Intercalation Mechanism and In-Plane Electrical Conductivity.

Abstract Graphite reacts with involatile fluorides (i.e. SnF 4 PbF 4 , LiBF 4 ) in liquid anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (AHF) to give graphite intercalation compounds (GIC's) of general formula C x MF y . Identity periods of stage-2 C x SnF y and C x PbF y are, respectively, 11.53 and 11.48 A. The average thickness of the intercalant along c -axis is 4.9 A for both compounds, which indicates that the process is mainly governed by the intercalation of octahedral species such as hexafluorometallate (+IV) MF 6 2− or pentafluorometallate (+IV) MF 5 − . Graphite intercalation compounds with SnF 4 are appreciably stable in moist air, and in-plane electrical conductivities of higher stages C x SnF y are higher than that of pristine HOPG by about 5 to 7 times.