chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and materials science, thiosilicate refers to materials containing

anion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

s of the formula . Derivatives where some sulfide is replaced by

oxide An oxide () is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion of oxygen, an O2– (molecular) ion. with oxygen in the oxidation state of −2. Most of the E ...

are also called thiosilicates, examples being materials derived from the oxohexathiodisilicate . Silicon is

tetrahedral In geometry, a tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all the o ...

in all thiosilicates and sulfur is bridging or terminal. Formally such materials are derived from

silicon disulfide Silicon disulfide is the inorganic compound with the formula Silicon, SiSulfur, S2. Like silicon dioxide, this material is polymeric, but it adopts a 1-dimensional structure quite different from the usual polymorphism (materials science), forms o ...

in analogy to the relationship between

silicon dioxide Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...

and

silicate In chemistry, a silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name is al ...

s. Thiosilicates are typically encountered as colorless solids. They are characteristically sensitive to

hydrolysis Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution reaction, substitution, elimination reaction, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water ...

. They are from the class of

chalcogenidotetrelate Chalcogenidotetrelates are chemical compounds containing a group 14 element, known as a tetrel, and a group 16 element, known as a chalocogen. The group 14 elements are carbon, silicon, germanium, tin, lead and flerovium. Flerovium compounds like th ...

Materials science

The LISICON (LIthium Super Ionic CONductor) include thiosilicates, which are

fast ion conductor In materials science, fast ion conductors are solid conductors with highly mobile ions. These materials are important in the area of solid state ionics, and are also known as solid electrolytes and superionic conductors. These materials are usefu ...

s. Thiosilicates and related thiogermanates are also of interest for

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

optics, since they only absorb low frequency IR modes.{{cite journal, title=BaGa₂MQ₆ (M = Si, Ge; Q = S, Se): A New Series of Promising IR Nonlinear Optical Materials, authors=Yin, Wenlong; Feng, Kai; He, Ran; Mei, Dajiang; Lin, Zheshuai; Yao, Jiyong; Wu, Yicheng , journal=Dalton Transactions, year=2012, volume=41, issue=18 , pages=5653–5661, doi=10.1039/c2dt12493a, pmid=22434416

References

Inorganic silicon compounds Sulfides Inorganic polymers Sulfur ions