Doping effect of nonmagnetic impurity on the spin-Peierls-like transition in the quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) spin system of 1-(4′-nitrobenzyl)pyridinium bis(maleonitriledithiolato)nickelate

A nonmagnetic compound, [NO2BzPy][Cu(mnt)2] (mnt2− = maleonitriledithiolate; NO2BzPy+ = 1-(4′-nitrobenzyl)pyridinium), is isostructural with [NO2BzPy][Ni(mnt)2], which is a quasi-1D spin system and exhibits a spin-Peierls-like transition with J = 192 K in the gapless state and spin energy gap = 738 K in the dimerization state, respectively. Further, five nonmagnetic impurity doped compounds [NO2BzPy][CuxNi1−x(mnt)2] (x = 0.04–0.74) were prepared, and their crystal structures as well as magnetic properties were investigated. The nonmagnetic doping causes the suppression of the spin transition with an average rate of 139(13) K/percentage of dopant concentration, and the transition collapse is estimated at around x > 0.5.

Graphical abstractNonmagnetic and isostructural compound [NO2BzPy][Cu(mnt)2] was doped into the lattice of the quasi-1D spin-Peierls-like transition compound [NO2BzPy][Ni(mnt)2] to give five molecular alloys with formula [NO2BzPy][CuxNi1−x(mnt)2] (x = 0.04–0.74), and the doping strongly effect the transition behavior.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide