Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.52, No.9, 5055-5062, 2013
Investigation of Fe incorporation in LnCr(2)Al(20) (Ln = La, Gd, Yb) with Fe-57 Mossbauer and Single Crystal X-ray Diffraction
Crystal growth, structure determination, and magnetic properties of LnCr(2)Al(20-x)Fe(x) (Ln = La, Gd, Yb) adopting the CeCr2Al20 structure type with space group Fd (3) over barm, a similar to 14.5 angstrom, are reported. Single crystal X-ray diffraction and Mossbauer spectroscopy are employed to fully characterize the crystal structure of LnCr(2)Al(20-x)Fe(x) (Ln = La, Gd, Yb). LnCr(2)Al(20-x)Fe(x) (Ln = La, Gd, Yb) are the first pseudoternaries adopting the CeCr2Al20 structure type with a transition metal occupying the main group site. The Yb analogues are Pauli paramagnets with the Yb ion adopting an electronic configuration close to Yb2+, while the Gd analogues show paramagnetic behavior with no magnetic order down to 3 K.