Trivanadium sulfide is a metal rich sulfide of vanadium with chemical formula V3S. It is metallic in appearance and conductivity.
Properties V3S melts around 1360°C. V3S forms a eutectic mixture with vanadium with a composition in atom %: V 82.2%, S 17.8% melting at 1312°C. Although metallic, V3S is not known to be a superconductor.
Structure V3S is dimorphous.
Alpha form The alpha form α-V3S is stable over 950°C but can be quenched to a metastable state at room temperature. The crystals form in the body-centred tetragonal system with space group I42m with the unit cell dimensions: a = 9.470 c = 5.589 Å and unit cell volume of 501.2 Å3 with eight formula units per cell. Its density is 5.895 tonnes/m3. α-V3S is the prototype for a crystal structure type that includes AuPb3, Zr3Ir, Mo3P, and Ta3P.
Beta form The beta form β-V3S is stable below 825°C. The crystals form in the tetragonal system with space group P42/nbc with the unit cell dimensions a = 9.381 c = 5.939 Å, also with eight formulae per unit cell. Density is 5.939 tonnes/m3. β-V3S is the prototype for a crystal structure type that includes Ta3P.
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