Structure of molten ScCl3 and ScI3 studied by using neutron diffraction

Jonathan C. Wasse, Philip S. Salmon

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

31 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

The structure of the salts ScX3, where X- denotes Cl- or I , was investigated by using neutron diffraction. On heating ScCl3, a phase transition from the FeCl3-type crystal structure to possibly the YCl3-type crystal structure was observed whereas ScIj remained in its room temperature FeCl3-type crystal structure up to the melting point. On melting, there is a reduction in the Sc-X coordination number from six to 4.8(2) for ScCl3 and from six to 4.7(2) for ScI3 and the Sc-Cl and Sc-I nearest-neighbour distances in the liquid are 2.48(2) Å and 2.76(2) Å respectively. The measured total structure factors of molten ScCl3 and ScI3 each have a prominent first sharp diffraction peak at a scattering vector value of 0.75(5) Å-1. The results are discussed in the context of those available for several other trivalent metal halide systems which also melt from the closely related YCl3-type and FeCl3-type crystal structures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2171-2177
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Physics Condensed Matter
Volume11
Issue number10 A
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Mar 1999
EventProceedings of the 1998 Second Workshop on Non-Equilibrium Phenomena in Supercooled Fluids, Glasses and Amorphous Materials - Pisa, Italy
Duration: 27 Sept 19982 Oct 1998

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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