Publication
Title
The influence of the 6s² configuration of on the structures of A'BiNb₂O₇ (A ' = Rb, Na, Li) layered perovskite oxides
Author
Abstract
Solid state compounds which exhibit non-centrosymmetric crystal structures are of great interest due to the physical properties they can exhibit. The 'hybrid improper' mechanism - in which two non-polar distortion modes couple to, and stabilize, a further polar distortion mode, yielding an acentric crystal structure - offers opportunities to prepare a range of novel non-centrosymmetric solids, but examples of compounds exhibiting acentric crystal structures stabilized by this mechanism are still relatively rare. Here we describe a series of bismuth-containing layered perovskite oxide phases, RbBiNb2O7, LiBiNb2O7 and NaBiNb2O7, which have structural frameworks compatible with hybrid-improper ferroelectricity, but also contain Bi3+ cations which are often observed to stabilize acentric crystal structures due to their 6s(2) electronic configurations. Neutron powder diffraction analysis reveals that RbBiNb2O7 and LiBiNb2O7 adopt polar crystal structures (space groups I2cm and B2cm respectively), compatible with stabilization by a trilinear coupling of non-polar and polar modes. The Bi3+ cations present are observed to enhance the magnitude of the polar distortions of these phases, but are not the primary driver for the acentric structure, as evidenced by the observation that replacing the Bi3+ cations with Nd3+ cations does not change the structural symmetry of the compounds. In contrast the non-centrosymmetric, but non-polar structure of NaBiNb2O7 (space group P2(1)2(1)2(1)) differs significantly from the centrosymmetric structure of NaNdNb2O7, which is attributed to a second-order Jahn-Teller distortion associated with the presence of the Bi3+ cations.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Dalton Transactions : an international journal of inorganic chemistry / Royal Society of Chemistry [London] - Cambridge, 2003, currens
Journal of the Chemical Society : Dalton transactions. - London, 1972 - 1999
Publication
Cambridge : Royal soc chemistry , 2021
ISSN
1477-9226 [print]
1477-9234 [online]
DOI
10.1039/D1DT02974F
Volume/pages
50 :42 (2021) , p. 15359-15369
ISI
000706651100001
Pubmed ID
34642733
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
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Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
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Creation 08.11.2021
Last edited 17.11.2024
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