Ab initio determination of the framework structure of the heavy-metal oxide CsxNb2.54W2.46O14 from 100 kV precession electron diffraction data

The present work deals with the ab initio determination of the heavy metal framework in Csx(Nb, W)5O14 from precession electron diffraction intensities. The target structure was first discovered by Lundberg and Sundberg [Ultramicroscopy 52 (1993) 429–435], who succeeded in deriving a tentative structural model from high-resolution electron microsopy (HREM) images. The metal framework of the compound was solved in this investigation via direct methods from h k 0 precession electron diffraction intensities recorded with a Philips EM400 at 100 kV. A subsequent (kinematical) least-squares refinement with electron intensities yielded slightly improved co-ordinates for the 11 heavy atoms in the structure. Chemical analysis of several crystallites by EDX is in agreement with the formula Cs0.44Nb2.54W2.46O14. Moreover, the structure was independently determined by Rietveld refinement from X-ray powder data obtained from a multi-phasic sample. The compound crystallises in the orthorhombic space group Pbam with refined lattice parameters a=27.145(2)a=27.145(2), b=21.603(2)b=21.603(2), and c=3.9463(3)Å. Comparison of the framework structure from electron diffraction with the result from Rietveld refinement shows an average agreement for the heavy atoms within 0.09 Å.