Issue 34, 2012

Crystal structure and chemical bonding of the intermetallic Zintl phase Yb11AlSb9

Abstract

High resolution single crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction data measured at 15(2) K were used to solve the structure of the complex intermetallic Zintl phase, Yb11AlSb9 (space group Iba2), made up of Yb cations and polyanions along with isolated Sb anions. The 15(2) K cell parameters are a = 11.7383(4) Å, b = 12.3600(4) Å, c = 16.6796(6) Å. The temperature dependence of the structure was investigated through high resolution synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) data measured from 90 K to 1000 K. Rietveld refinements of the crystal structure revealed near linear thermal expansion of Yb11AlSb9 with expansion coefficients of 1.49(2) × 10−5 K−1, 1.71(3) × 10−5 K−1, 1.13(1) × 10−5 K−1 for a, b and c, respectively. The chemical bonding in Yb11AlSb9 was analyzed using atomic Hirshfeld surfaces, and the analysis supports the presence of the structural elements of Yb cations, [AlSb4]9− tetrahedra, [Sb2]4− dimers and isolated Sb3− anions. However, indications of interatomic interactions between the Zintl anions and the Yb cations were also observed.

Graphical abstract: Crystal structure and chemical bonding of the intermetallic Zintl phase Yb11AlSb9

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Feb 2012
Accepted
23 Jun 2012
First published
27 Jun 2012

Dalton Trans., 2012,41, 10347-10353

Crystal structure and chemical bonding of the intermetallic Zintl phase Yb11AlSb9

S. Kastbjerg, C. A. Uvarov, S. M. Kauzlarich, Y. Chen, E. Nishibori, M. A. Spackman and B. B. Iversen, Dalton Trans., 2012, 41, 10347 DOI: 10.1039/C2DT30278K

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