Molten gallium as a non-reactive solvent: Synthesis of the silicides RE2Ni3+xSi5-x (RE = Sm, Gd and Tb)

Marina A. Zhuravleva, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

The use of molten Ga as a non-reactive solvent for the synthesis of intermetallic silicides was demonstrated on the family RE2Ni 3+xSi5-x (RE = Sm, Gd and Tb). The structure of Sm 2Ni3+xSi5-x was solved from single crystal X-ray data in the orthorhombic space group Ibam, Z = 4, cell parameters a = 9.6396(12); b = 11.3219(14); and c = 5.6967(13) Å. The refinement based on the full-matrix least-squares on Fo2 [I > 2σ(I)] converged to final residuals R1/wR2 = 0.0206/0.0492. The structure of RE2Ni3+xSi5-x is related to the U2Co3Si5 structure type; however, discrepancies exist between the solution obtained for RE 2Ni3+xSi5-x and that reported for U 2Co3Si5. The magnetic properties studied on Tb2Ni3+xSi5-x indicate an antiferromagnetic ordering of magnetic moments centered at Tb ions at 13 K, and Curie-Weiss behavior at high temperatures with the effective moment close to that of free Tb3+ ion.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)649-657
Number of pages9
JournalZeitschrift fur Naturforschung - Section B Journal of Chemical Sciences
Volume58
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2003

Funding

Financial support from the Department of Energy (Grant # DE-FG02-99ER45793) is gratefully acknowledged. This work made use of the SEM/ EDS facilities of the Center of Advanced Microscopy at Michigan State University.

Keywords

  • Flux Synthesis
  • Intermetallics
  • Magnetism
  • Mixed Occupancy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry

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