The Reactivity of Metal Oxides and Sulfides with Lithium at 25°C — the Critical Role of Topotaxy

Abstract

It has been known for some time that transition metal oxides, such as those of tungsten and vanadium, can form highly non-stoichiometric ternary compounds with the alkali metals at elevated temperatures, 500–900°C. The sodium tungsten bronzes, Na_xWO₃ where 0 < x ≤ 1, are perhaps the best known of these. We have found that many oxides and other chalcogenides of the transition metals, in particular, will also react with lithium at ambient temperatures. The compounds formed are also ternary but usually have crystal structures very closely related to the starting material and different from the known high temperatures phases; that is, a topochemical reaction has taken place.