Pyrochlore-type crystals

Kokubo T, Setsuro I., and Tashiro M., "Formation of Metastable Pyrochlore-Type Crystals in Glasses," Bull. Inst. Chem. Res., Kyoto Univ., 51, 315-28 (1973). 

The compounds of the MMe205F type, where Me = Nb or Ta M = Rb, Cs, Tl, crystallize in cubic symmetry and correspond to a pyrochlore-type structure [235-237]. This structure can be obtained from a fluorite structure by replacing half of the calcium-containing cubic polyhedrons with oxyfluoride octahedrons. 

The crystal structure of cadmium rhenium(V) oxide, as determined by single-crystal technique,1 is of the face-centered cubic pyrochlore type (a = 10.219 A.). The only positional parameter for the 48 (/) oxygens is x = 0.309 0.007 when rhenium is at the origin. The density, determined pycnometrically, is 8.82 0.03 g./cc., compared with the theoretical value of 8.83 g./cc. for Z = 8. The resistivity between 4.2 K and room temperature is very low (10-3-10-4 J2-cm.) and has a positive temperature coefficient. Over the same temperature range the magnetic susceptibility is low and temperature-independent. These properties indicate that cadmium rhenium(V) oxide exhibits metallic conductivity. 

The pyrochlore-type compounds, where the crystal structure is usually considered as a cation-ordered fluorite derivative with % vacant oxygen site per fluorite formula unit, constitute another large family of oxygen anion conductors [9, 33, 41—43, 84—88]. The unoccupied sites provide pathways for oxygen migration furthermore, the pyrochlore structure may tolerate formation of cation and anion vacancies, doping in both cation sublattices, and antistructural cation disorder. Regardless of these factors. 

Dem yanets LN, Radaev SE, Mamin BF, Maksimov BA (1988) Synthesis and atomic structure of pyrochlore-type Yb2Ge207 crystals. J Struct Chem 29 485-487... 

The compounds characterized by X Me = 3.5 have a common formula of M2Me205F2 and crystallize either in a pyrochlore [192] or a veberite [229] type structure. According to X-ray powder diffraction patterns, the structure of Na2Nb205F2 can be regarded as a super-structure of pyrochlore, which is made up of octahedrons connected in layers and arranged in the (111) direction. The layers are linked via octahedrons so that each octahedron in one layer shares three vertexes with an octahedron in the adjacent layer. 

In both cases, the replacement product is usually reported as having a distinctly fibrous or prismatic morphology. The higher level of radiation damage in metaloparite (lucasite ) could be due to a difference in the critical amorphization dose of loparite and the alteration product, provided that the alteration event occurred soon after crystallization of the loparite. For example, Smith et al. (1998) and Lumpkin et al. (1998) have shown that the critical amorphization dose of perovskite structure types may be as much as a factor of five greater than the critical dose of other Nb-Ta-Ti minerals (e.g., pyrochlore and zirconolite). 

In this chapter, we present some latest analysis results of lanthanides (Lns Eu and Gd)-M6ssbauer structure and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) lattice parameter (oq) data of defect-fluorite (DF) oxides with the new defect crystal chemistry (DCC) Oq model [ 1,2] as an upgrade of the former random oxygen coordination number (CN) Oq model [3,4]. This is, thus, the first report of our ongoing efforts to further elaborate the model and extend its applicability to more various systems, especially to pyrochlore (P)-type stabilized zirconias (SZs) and stabilized hafnias (SHs). 

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