Li3Sb

Li3Sb, or lithium antimonide, is an inorganic binary compound of lithium and antimony. It is primarily discussed as an intermetallic compound and has attracted interest for its structural and electronic properties within the family of lithium-antimony materials.

In its common solid form, Li3Sb adopts the antifluorite structure type. In this arrangement antimony atoms form a face-centered cubic lattice, while lithium ions occupy the tetrahedral interstitial sites. This arrangement yields the stoichiometry Li3Sb and places the material in the cubic crystal system with the space group Fm-3m.

Synthesis and handling of Li3Sb are characteristic of reactive alkali-metal intermetallics. It is typically prepared by direct combination of lithium metal and antimony at elevated temperature under an inert atmosphere, followed by cooling and annealing. The compound is air- and moisture-sensitive and should be handled under strictly anhydrous conditions to prevent degradation.

Physically, Li3Sb is a solid with semiconducting electronic properties. Its electrical behavior is generally limited at room temperature and becomes more conductive with increasing temperature, consistent with semiconducting or ionic-character transport in some intermetallic lithium compounds. Electronic structure studies, including spectroscopic and theoretical investigations, have been used to explore its band structure and bonding characteristics.

Applications of Li3Sb are primarily academic; there are no major commercial uses. It serves as a subject of fundamental research in Li–Sb chemistry and intermetallics and can function as a precursor to other Li–Sb phases explored in materials science.