chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, propertie ...

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 th ...

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 ...

in all thiosilicates and sulfur is bridging or terminal. Formally such materials are derived from silicon disulfide in analogy to the relationship between silicon dioxide and silicates. 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, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile. Biological hydrolys ...

. They are from the class of chalcogenidotetrelates.

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 usef ...

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 arou ...

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