La2TeI2: a new layered telluride iodide with unusual electrical properties

A new layered metal-rich telluride halide, La2TeI2, has been synthesized by heating stoichiometric mixtures of LaI3, La, and Te under argon at 900 degrees C, and its structure has been refined from X-ray powder diffraction data. The compound crystallizes in the 3R-Lu2CCl2 structure type (rhombohedral space group R(-)3m with a = 4.5074(4) A, c = 32.528(2) A, and Z = 3). The crystal structure is composed of infinite layers of edge-sharing, Te-centered metal atom octahedra and iodine atoms separating these layers to form three close-packed I-Ln-Te-Ln-I slabs within the unit cell. The title compound is metallic at room temperature and exhibits an anomaly in the resistivity around 140 K which is closely related to changes in the a lattice parameter with temperature. The chemical bonding and metallic properties of La2TeI2 can be plausibly understood in terms of an ionic description (Ln3+)2Te2-(I-)2(e)2 where two electrons are delocalized in the La 5d conduction band.