No Arabic abstract
This paper summarizes 0 GPa to 0.6 GPa neutron diffraction measurements of a nickel hexacyanochromate coordination polymer (NiCrPB) that has the face-centered cubic, Prussian blue structure. Deuterated powders of NiCrPB contain ~100 nm sided cubic particles. The application of a large magnetic field shows the ambient pressure, saturated magnetic structure. Pressures of less than 1 GPa have previously been shown to decrease the magnetic susceptibility by as much as half, and we find modifications to the nuclear crystal structure at these pressures that we quantify. Bridging cyanide molecules isomerize their coordination direction under pressure to change the local ligand field and introduce inhomogeneities in the local (magnetic) anisotropy that act as pinning sites for magnetic domains, thereby reducing the low field magnetic susceptibility.
Magnetic order in the thermally quenched photomagnetic Prussian blue analogue coordination polymer K0.27Co[Fe(CN)6]0.73[D2O6]0.27 1.42D2O has been studied down to 4 K with unpolarized and polarized neutron powder diffraction as a function of applied magnetic field. Analysis of the data allows the onsite coherent magnetization of the Co and Fe spins to be established. Specifically, magnetic fields of 1 T and 4 T induce moments parallel to the applied field, and the sample behaves as a ferromagnet with a wandering axis.
The layered structure of tetragonal Ni(CN)2, consisting of square-planar Ni(CN)4 units linked in the a-b plane, with no true periodicity along the c-axis, is expected to show anisotropic compression on the application of pressure. High-pressure neutron diffraction (elastic) and inelastic neutron scattering experiments have been performed on polycrystalline Ni(CN)2 to investigate its compressibility and stability. The intralayer a lattice parameter does not show any appreciable variation with increase of pressure up to 2.7 kbar. Above this pressure value, a decrease in a is observed. The c lattice parameter decreases slowly up to 1 kbar, then decreases sharply up to 20 kbar. It does not show any significant variation with further pressure increase up to 50 kbar. The response of the lattice parameters to the applied pressure is strongly anisotropic as the interlayer spacing (along the c-axis) shows a significantly larger contraction than the a-b plane. The experimental pressure dependence of the volume data is fitted to a bulk modulus, B0, of 1050 (20) kbar over the pressure range 0-1 kbar, and to 154 (2) kbar in the range 1-50 kbar. The change in the slope of the lattice parameters at 1 kbar is also supported by high-pressure Raman measurements, which indicate a phase transition at 1 kbar. Probably arising from a change in the CN ordering within the Ni(CN)2 layers. Raman measurements, performed up to 200 kbar, highlight the possible existence of a second phase transition taking place at about 70 kbar. Our neutron inelastic scattering measurements of the pressure dependence of the phonon spectra performed up to 2.7 kbar, also support the occurrence of a phase transition at low pressure.
We present longitudinal field muon spin relaxation ($mu$SR) measurements in the unilluminated state of the photo-sensitive molecular magnetic Co-Fe Prussian blue analogues M$_{1-2x}$Co$_{1+x}$[Fe(CN)$_6$]$cdot z$ H$_2$O, where M=K and Rb with $x=0.4$ and $simeq 0.17$, respectively. These results are compared to those obtained in the $x=0.5$ stoichiometric limit, Co$_{1.5}$[Fe(CN)$_6$]$cdot 6$ H$_2$O, which is not photo-sensitive. We find evidence for correlation between the range of magnetic ordering and the value of $x$ in the unilluminated state which can be explained using a site percolation model.
Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) are a broad and important family of microporous inorganic solids, famous for their gas storage, metal-ion immobilisation, proton conduction, and stimuli-dependent magnetic, electronic and optical properties. The family also includes the widely-used double-metal cyanide (DMC) catalysts and the topical hexacyanoferrate/hexacyanomanganate (HCF/HCM) battery materials. Central to the various physical properties of PBAs is the ability to transport mass reversibly, a process made possible by structural vacancies. Normally presumed random, vacancy arrangements are actually crucially important because they control the connectivity of the micropore network, and hence diffusivity and adsorption profiles. The long-standing obstacle to characterising PBA vacancy networks has always been the relative inaccessibility of single-crystal samples. Here we report the growth of single crystals of a range of PBAs. By measuring and interpreting their X-ray diffuse scattering patterns, we identify for the first time a striking diversity of non-random vacancy arrangements that is hidden from conventional crystallographic analysis of powder samples. Moreover, we show that this unexpected phase complexity can be understood in terms of a remarkably simple microscopic model based on local rules of electroneutrality and centrosymmetry. The hidden phase boundaries that emerge demarcate vacancy-network polymorphs with profoundly different micropore characteristics. Our results establish a clear foundation for correlated defect engineering in PBAs as a means of controlling storage capacity, anisotropy, and transport efficiency.
We present an ESR study at excitation frequencies of 9.4 GHz and 222.4 GHz of powders and single crystals of a Prussian Blue analogue (PBA), RbMn[Fe(CN)6]*H2O in which Fe and Mn undergoes a charge transfer transition between 175 and 300 K. The ESR of PBA powders, also reported by Pregelj et al. (JMMM, 316, E680 (2007)) is assigned to cubic magnetic clusters of Mn2+ ions surrounding Fe(CN)6 vacancies. The clusters are well isolated from the bulk and are superparamagnetic below 50 K. In single crystals various defects with lower symmetry are also observed. Spin-lattice relaxation broadens the bulk ESR beyond observability. This strong spin relaxation is unexpected above the charge transfer transition and is attributed to a mixing of the Mn3+ - Fe2+ state into the prevalent Mn2+ - Fe3+ state.