Structural, Electric and Dynamic Properties of (Pyrrolidinium)[BiI] and (Pyrrolidinium)[SbI]: New Lead-Free, Organic-Inorganic Hybrids with Narrow Band Gaps.

Hybrid organic-inorganic iodides based on Bi(III) and Sb(III) provide integrated functionalities through the combination of high dielectric constants, semiconducting properties and ferroic phases. Here, we report a pyrrolidinium-based bismuth () and antimony () iodides of (NCH)[MI] (M: Bi(III), Sb(III)) formula which are ferroelastic at room temperature. The narrow band gaps (~2.12 eV for and 2.19 eV for ) and DOS calculations indicate the semiconducting characteristics of both materials. The crystal structure consists of discrete, face-sharing bioctahedra [MI] and disordered pyrrolidinium amines providing charge balance and acting as spacers between inorganic moieties. At room temperature, and accommodate orthorhombic symmetry. displays a complex temperature-induced polymorphism. It is stable up to 525 K and undergoes a sequence of low-temperature phase transitions (PTs) at 221/222 K (I ↔ II) and 189/190 K (II ↔ III) and at 131 K (IV→III), associated with the ordering of pyrrolidinium cations and resulting in symmetry breaking. undergoes only one PT at T = 215 K. The dielectric studies disclose a relaxation process in the kilohertz frequency region, assigned to the dynamics of organic cations, described well by the Cole-Cole relation. A combination of single-crystal X-ray diffraction, synchrotron powder diffraction, spin-lattice relaxation time of H NMR, dielectric and calorimetric studies is used to determine the structural phase diagram, cation dynamics and electric properties of (NCH)[MI]