Synthesis, Structure, and Optical Properties of a 0D Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Metal Halide (C 5 N 2 H 14 Cl)GeCl 3 .

Due to the flexible structural tunability and excellent photoelectric performance, hybrid organic-inorganic metal halides (OIMHs) have attracted intensive attention and become a hot topic in the field of materials. It is important and necessary to explore new OIMHs and study their structure-property relationship. In this work, a new lead-free OIMH, (C 5 N 2 H 14 Cl)GeCl 3 , is synthesized by the combination of hydrothermal and solution methods. This compound features a zero-dimensional structure composed of inorganic [GeCl 3 ] - trigonal pyramids surrounded by isolated Cl - anions and organic (C 5 N 2 H 14 ) 2+ cations. Preliminary characterization and first-principles calculations are performed to study its basic optical properties. Interestingly, (C 5 N 2 H 14 Cl)GeCl 3 shows weak blue emission under ultraviolet excitation, and the intrinsic mechanism is discussed.