Crystal growth and physical characterization of NaBaVS4 obtained from sodium polysulfide flux Original Research Article

Single crystals of NaBaVS4 were grown by precipitation from a sodium polysulfide flux at temperatures below 350°C. The compound crystallizes in the centrosymmetric monoclinic space group P21/n, with four formula units per unit cell. The unit cell dimensions are and β=102.149(14)°. The V5+ cations are surrounded by a tetrahedron of sulfide anions, the Ba2+ cations are coordinated by nine sulfides in a distorted tricapped trigonal prismatic array, and the Na+ cations, which are disordered, are surrounded by seven sulfide ions. Conductivity and magnetic susceptibility studies of a single crystal show that it is a non-magnetic insulator, which suggests that it is a normal valence compound.