Watery superconductivity in misfit-layer sulfides

Water intercalated misfit-layer sulfides Nax(H2O)y(SbS)1+δ(TaS2)2 as well as parent compounds (SbS)1+δTaS2 and (SbS)1+δ(TaS2)2 were found to exhibit superconductivity. The highest superconducting transition temperature of Tc = 3.5 K was observed in Nax(H2O)y(SbS)1+δ(TaS2)2 by intercalating a bilayer of water between adjacent TaS2 layers. The transition temperature was reduced down to about 3 K by decreasing the water content y. This indicates that the presence of water is favorable to superconductivity in these sulfides.