X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of LiFe0.5Ti1.5O4 – A new primitive cubic ordered spinel

LiFe0.5Ti1.5O4 was synthesized by solid-state reaction carried out at 900 °C in flowing argon atmosphere, followed by rapid quenching of the reaction product to room temperature. The compound has been characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and 57Fe Mössbauer effect spectroscopy (MES). It crystallizes in the space group P4332, a = 8.4048(1) Å. Results from Rietveld structural refinement indicated 1:3 cation ordering on the octahedral sites: Li occupies the octahedral (4b) sites, Ti occupies the octahedral (12d) sites, while the tetrahedral (8c) sites have mixed (Fe/Li) occupancy. A small, about 5%, inversion of Fe on the (4b) sites has been detected. The MES data is consistent with cation distribution and oxidation state of Fe, determined from the structural data.The title compound is thermally unstable in air atmosphere. At 800 °C it transforms to a mixture of two Fe3+ containing phases – a face centred cubic spinel Li(1+y)/2Fe(5−3y)/2TiyO4 and a Li(z−1)/2Fe(7−3z)/2TizO5 – pseudobrookite. The major product of thermal treatment at 1000 °C is a ramsdellite type lithium titanium iron(III) oxide, accompanied by traces of rutile and pseudobrookite.

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