High-Pressure Behavior of Silver Fluorides up to 40 GPa

A combined experimental-theoretical study of silver(I) and silver(II) fluorides under high pressure is reported. For Ag^I, the CsCl-type structure is stable to at least 39 GPa; the overtone of the IR-active mode is seen in the Raman spectrum. Its Ag^IIF₂ sibling is a unique compound in many ways: it is more covalent than other known difluorides, crystallizes in a layered structure, and is enormously reactive. Using X-ray diffraction and guided by theoretical calculations (density functional theory), we have been able to elucidate crystal structures of high-pressure polymorphs of AgF₂. The transition from ambient pressure to an unprecedented nanotubular structure takes place via an intermediate orthorhombic layered structure, which lacks an inversion center. The observed phase transitions are discussed within the broader framework of the fluorite → cotunnite → Ni₂In series, which has been seen for other metal difluorides.