The crystal structure and thermal expansion properties of solid solutions Ln2−xDyxW3O12 (Ln = Er and Y)

Crystal structures and thermal expansion properties of solid solutions Ln2−xDyxW3O12 (Ln = Er and Y) were studied by room and high temperature X-ray diffraction. Rietveld analysis results show that compounds Er2−xDyxW3O12 with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.7 and Y2−xDyxW3O12 with 0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0 have orthorhombic structures and show negative thermal expansion in temperature range of 200–800 °C while compounds Er2−xDyxW3O12 with 1.2 ≤ x ≤ 2.0 and Y2−xDyxW3O12 with 1.5 ≤ x ≤ 2.0 have monoclinic structures and exhibit positive thermal expansion in temperature range of 25–800 °C. Thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) were used to study the hygroscopicity and the phase transition temperature.