Partial alkali-metal ion extraction from K0.8(Li0.27Ti1.73)O4 using PTFE as an extraction reagent.

The alkali-metal ion extraction ability of an inert material, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE; empirical formula CF2), was clarified by characterizing a partially alkali-metal ion-extracted layered compound, K0.8(Li0.27Ti1.73)O4. Washing K0.8(Li0.27Ti1.73)O4 in water extracts only 44% of the interlayer K(+) and no intralayer Li(+); on the other hand, 53% of the interlayer K(+) and approximately 10% of the intralayer Li(+) ions were extracted from K0.8(Li0.27Ti1.73)O4 by the reaction with PTFE at 350 °C under flowing Ar. A systematic decrease in the lattice parameters a and c along the intralayer directions and an increase in b along the interlayer direction were observed, consistent with the alkali-metal ion deintercalation amount as a function of the reaction temperatures and the reacted PTFE amounts. After the reaction with K0.8(Li0.27Ti1.73)O4 : CF2 = 1 : 0.6 in mol, the lattice parameter b increased to 1.5607(3) nm from 1.5522(2) of the pristine K0.8(Li0.27Ti1.73)O4, and this change in the lattice parameter was approximately one order of magnitude larger than those in a and c.