Local structure of lead halide melts analysed by pulsed neutron diffraction

According to the radial distribution analysis of PbCl2 melt through pulsed neutron diffraction (PND), the Cl-coordination numbers around Pb were found to be about 4, corresponding to the peak at r=2.84 Å in the correlation function G(r), and to be about 2 at r=3.40 Å, respectively. These two peaks were thought to form the first coordination shell. On the contrary, the Br-coordination number around Pb was estimated at about 4. Although PbCl2 and PbBr2 have the same crystal structure, the short-range structure of the melts was quite different from each other.