Incommensurate Modulated Structures in the Ta2O5-Al2O3 System
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Date
2012-01-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
Members of the (1 - x)Ta2O5 center dot xAl(2)O(3) series were synthesized, and the structures investigated using synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction and neutron powder diffraction data for the first time. Structural models were developed and refined using the Rietveld method and a [3 + 1] dimensional incommensurately modulated composite structure approach with a composition dependent modulation vector q, and superspace group Xmmm(0 beta 0)s00. Displacive atomic modulation functions across the (1 - x)Ta(2)O(5 center dot)xAl(2)O(3) series were found to be very similar, and strongly resemble those for the Ta2O5-WO3 system, in line with the notion that there are structure types in higher dimensional space just as there are in 3D space. Bond valence sum calculations and bond distance plots showed that the introduction of the modulation to the structural model generally led to more favourable bond valence sum values and bond distances. Fourier difference plots were examined, and the occupational modulation of aluminium refined to determine that the aluminium atoms preferentially occupy the octahedral sites. © 2012, CSIRO Publishing.
Description
Keywords
Chemistry, Crystals, Tantalum, Oxides, Solid solutions, Diffraction
Citation
Schmid, S., & Fung, V. (2012). Incommensurate Modulated Structures in the Ta2O5-Al2O3 System. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 65(7), 851-859. doi:10.1071/CH12080