Storylines in intercalation chemistry

Abstract

Intercalation chemistry will soon be a hundred years old. The period of greatest activity in this field of solid state chemistry and physics was from about 1970 to 1990. The intercalation reactions are defined as topotactic solid state reactions and the products – the intercalation compounds – are clearly distinguished from inclusion and interstitial compounds. After a short historical introduction emphasizing the pioneering work of Ulrich Hofmann, the central topics and concepts will be reviewed and commented on. The most important ones, in my view, are: dichalcogenide intercalation compounds, the electrochemical intercalation and the search for new battery electrodes, the physics of graphite intercalation compounds, and the staging and interstratification phenomena. The relation to other fields of actual research and the demands for forthcoming research will also be addressed.