Halogenoantimonates(iii) and halogenobismuthates(iii) are a highly versatile class of organic–inorganic hybrid materials, applicable in optoelectronics and switchable dielectric devices.

Ferroelectric properties of haloantimonates­(III) and halobismuthates­(III) have been detected for as much as 40 structures belonging to 7 different types of anionic networks, with RMX4, R2MX5, R3M2X9, and R5M2X11 stoichiometries being the most frequently reported to host these properties. We report on the first ferroelectric of the halobismuthate­(III) family with a R3MX6 stoichiometry, that is, tris­(acetamidinium)­hexabromobismuthate­(III), (CH3C­(NH2)2)3[BiBr6] (ABB), characterized by a one-component organic network. While the stoichiometry and crystal packing of ABB might seem uncomplicated, the temperature-resolved structural and spectroscopic studies paint a different picture in which rich polymorphism in the solid state occurs between tetragonal (paraelastic) and triclinic (ferroelastic) crystal phases: I (P42/n) → II (P1̅) at 272/277 K (cooling/heating), II (P1̅) → III (P1̅) at 207 K, and III (P1̅) → IV (P1) at 98/127 K. The ferroelectric properties of phase IV have been confirmed by the pyroelectric current and hysteresis loop measurements; additionally, the acentric symmetry has been further supported by second harmonic generation measurements. Crystallographic analysis of phase III reveals the antiparallel alignment of acetamidinium dipoles, pointing to the antiferrroelectric nature of this phase. In turn, the character of the ferroelectric transition (III → IV) should be considered as “displacive” for both cationic and anionic substructures.) In this report, we also explore the two-photon absorption property of ABB at 800 nm, a property that is unexplored for any halobismuthate­(III) thus far. We also present periodic ab initio calculations for ABB crystals. The Berry-phase approach at the Hartree–Fock and density functional theory (DFT-D3) method levels is employed for spontaneous polarization calculations. The origin of ferroelectric polarization is studied using DFT-D3 and RHF electronic structure calculations, emphasizing the relationship between P s and the relative orientation of organic/inorganic components.

The simple organic crystal formamidinium iodide (FAI) appeared to be a novel semiconducting material in a wide temperature range. The electric properties of FAI and the role of formamidinium cation (FA + ) in the molecular mechanism of the solid-to-solid phase transitions (at 345 K (III / II) and 388 K (II / I)) were analysed. The creation of the ferroelastic domain structure in phases III and II was proved on the basis of observation under a polarizing microscope. Moreover, the molecular arrangement of dipolar organic FA + was studied by 1 H NMR (spin-lattice relaxation time) and vibrational spectroscopy supported by density functional theory. The theoretical results show a good agreement with the experimental data. The infrared spectrum in a harmonic approximation was calculated and a comparative vibrational analysis was performed. All used techniques showed that the prototypic phase I exhibits the feature of plastic phase.

Two organic–inorganic hybrid halobismuthates(iii), (NH2CHNH2)3[Bi2Cl9] (FBC) and (NH2CHNH2)3[Bi2Br9] (FBB), have been prepared with their structures revealed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction at various temperatures.