Synthesis, Structural Analysis, and Superconductivity of Ba_xV₆S₈

A nonstoichiometric ternary vanadium sulfide, BaxV6S8 (x = 0.41-0.48), was synthesized. This solid-state compound crystallizes in the hexagonal space group P6(3)/m (no. 176) with a = 9.2080(3) Angstrom, c = 3.3169(2) Angstrom, V = 243.55(2) Angstrom (3), and Z = 1. The structure of this solid is similar to that of its parent compound V3S4, consisting of face-sharing, distorted octahedral VS6 units. A superconducting transition of the solid at approximately 2.5 K was observed. A computational analysis of the electronic structure using the extended Huckel method is presented.