Single crystal sheet of layered material, FePS 3 , grows inside sealed and evacuated silica tube. The FePS 3 forms at 650°C under a controlled heating rate. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) have been used to study the crystal structure and morphology. The XRD pattern exhibits sharp 001 reflections of the single crystal alloy sheet. The prepared samples exhibit high thermal stability with a decomposition temperature of 780 ˚C. The SEM images show smoothness of the single crystal sheets. Corrosion behavior was investigated by using open circuit potential, Tafel polarization and cyclic voltametry in presence of 10% hydrochloric acid. The crystal open circuit potential shifts to the nobler direction. There is a passive region in the anodic branch of the polarization curve. The presence of the passive region reflects high corrosion resistance. This behavior of high corrosion resistance can be rationalized on the basis that single crystals are free from grain boundaries.
INTRODUCTIONSingle crystal is the perfect structure of crystalline materials. It is free of grain boundaries. This behavior increases its corrosion resistance. However, there are few methods for preparing bulk single crystals. MnPS 3 single crystals were grown from a powder mixture of Mn, P and S [1, 2]. Transition metal chalcogenophosphates or layered materials, MPX 3 (M ≡ transition metals; X ≡ S or Se) show fascinating structure, electric and magnetic properties [3][4][5][6]. The structure of these materials is closely related to that of the well-known transition metal dichalcogenide, MX 2 [7][8][9]. They have been applied in many fields such as nonlinear optical materials, magnetic materials, photomagnetic materials, catalytic materials, medical and biomedical materials and cathode materials in the rechargeable batteries [10][11][12][13][14]. The layered materials, especially, FePS 3 , MnPS 3 and MgPS 3 , were investigated for hydrogen storage application and the results were promising [15][16][17]. Physical properties and characterization of such materials were extensively studied [18][19][20][21][22][23]. The electrochemical characteristics of the MPS 3 and NiPS 3 as cathodic materials in room temperature lithium batteries were investigated [24]. The theoretical specific capacities of a family of layered compounds MPX 3 (M = Fe, Co, Ni; X = S, Se) involving 1.5, 2, 6 and 9 lithium atoms per MPX 3 molecule have been estimated [25]. The data show that FePS 3 and NiPS 3 are good electroactive materials for primary lithium cells [26]. This work aims at studying growth of single crystal of the FePS 3 layer material under vacuum conditions. The single