Crystal structures of superconducting sodium intercalates of hafnium nitride chloride

Sodium intercalation compounds of HfNCl have been prepared at room temperature in naphtyl sodium solutions in tetrahydrofuran and their crystal structure has been investigated by Rietveld refinement using X-ray powder diffraction data and high-resolution electron microscopy. The structure of two int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Materials research bulletin 2006-05, Vol.41 (5), p.934-940
Main Authors: Oró-Solé, J., Frontera, C., Beltrán-Porter, D., Lebedev, O.I., Van Tendeloo, G., Fuertes, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
A. Nitrides
A. Superconductors
B. Intercalation reactions
BENDING
CHEMICAL PREPARATION
CHLORIDES
CLATHRATES
CRITICAL TEMPERATURE
CRYSTALS
D. Crystal structure
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
HAFNIUM NITRIDES
HYDROFLUORIC ACID
LATTICE PARAMETERS
MATERIALS SCIENCE
SODIUM
SPACE GROUPS
STACKING FAULTS
STOICHIOMETRY
SUPERCONDUCTORS
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
TETRAHYDROFURAN
TRIGONAL LATTICES
VAN DER WAALS FORCES
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
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Summary:Sodium intercalation compounds of HfNCl have been prepared at room temperature in naphtyl sodium solutions in tetrahydrofuran and their crystal structure has been investigated by Rietveld refinement using X-ray powder diffraction data and high-resolution electron microscopy. The structure of two intercalates with space group R 3 ¯ m and lattice parameters a = 3.58131(6) Å, c = 57.752(6) Å, and a = 3.58791(8) Å, c = 29.6785(17) Å is reported, corresponding to the stages 2 and 1, respectively, of Na x HfNCl. For the stage 2 phase an ordered model is presented, showing two crystallographically independent [HfNCl] units with an alternation of the Hf–Hf interlayer distance along the c-axis, according with the occupation by sodium atoms of one out of two van der Waals gaps. Both stages 1 and 2 phases are superconducting with critical temperatures between 20 and 24 K, they coexist in different samples with proportions depending on the synthesis conditions, and show a variation in c spacing that can be correlated with the sodium stoichiometry. High-resolution electron microscopy images of the host and intercalated samples show bending of the HfNCl bilayers as well as stacking faults in some regions, which coexist in the same crystal with ordered domains.
ISSN:0025-5408
1873-4227
DOI:10.1016/j.materresbull.2006.03.018