Diffraction and spectroscopic study of pyrochlores Bi2−xFe1+xSbO7

The structural and electronic properties of the series Bi2−xFe1+xSbO7 (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.6) were investigated using a combination of diffraction and spectroscopy. Synchrotron and neutron diffraction analysis show that Fe3+ cations substitute for Bi3+ onto the A site with increasing x, which was further confirmed by analysis of the Fe K/L-edge X-ray absorption near-edge spectra. The diffraction analysis indicated the presence of displacive disorder along the A2O chains, likely the result of the Bi3+ 6s2 lone pair, as well as non-Vegard-like behaviour of the lattice parameters in the Fe-poor region. Fe K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine-structure analysis of Bi2FeSbO7 confirmed the displacive disorder of the Bi3+ cations as well as Sb5+ and Fe3+ disorder on the B site. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

Neutron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, Pyrochlore, Bismuth oxides, Crystal lattices, Fine structure

Citation

Zhou, Q., Blanchard, P. E. R., Kennedy, B. J., Ling, C. D., Liu, S., Avdeev, M., Aitken, J. B., Tadich, A., & Brand, H. E. A. (2014). Diffraction and spectroscopic study of pyrochlores Bi2−xFe1+xSbO7. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 589, 425-430. doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2013.11.226