Chevrel phases are molybdenum chalcogenides of formula M x Mo 6 X 8 (M is a cation and X a chalcogen) that present a complex and captivating intercalation chemistry that has drawn the interest of the solid state chemistry community since their discovery 1-3. This property has a huge potential for applied science and device development for energy storage 4 , pollutants removal or detection 5,6 , but a deeper knowledge of the intercalation processes and chemistry is still necessary. In the present work, the intercalation of Cd 2+ in aqueous solution has been studied taking advantage of the complementarity of electrochemistry characterization and synchrotron powder diffraction, acquired during an in situ combined experiment. During the experiment, industrially adequate electrochemical conditions (room temperature and reduced process time) have been applied, allowing a better understanding of the intercalation processes. The intercalated phases obtained by electrochemistry have been characterized ex situ, and for the first time, the structures of Cd 2 Mo 6 X 8 (X=S, Se) have been determined. A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t Unexpectedly, Cd 2 Mo 6 Se 8 presents a trigonal crystal structure with only cavity 2 occupied, which has not been encountered before for Chevrel phases.