Crystal structure of lutetium aluminate (LUAM), Lu4Al2O9

• Main Authors: Rayko Simura, Hisanori Yamane
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Union of Crystallography 2020-05-01
• Series: Acta Crystallographica Section E: Crystallographic Communications
• Subjects: crystal structure; lu4al2o9; lutetium aluminate monoclinic (luam); rare-earth aluminate; lu2o3-al2o3 system; single-crystal x-ray diffraction
• Online Access: http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S2056989020005757

The crystal structure of the title compound containing lutetium, the last element in the lanthanide series, was determined using a single crystal prepared by heating a pressed pellet of a 2:1 molar ratio mixture of Lu2O3 and Al2O3 powders in an Ar atmosphere at 2173 K for 4 h. Lu4Al2O9 is isostructural with Eu4Al2O9 and composed of Al2O7 ditetrahedra and Lu-centered six- and sevenfold oxygen polyhedra. The unit-cell volume, 787.3 (3) Å3, is the smallest among the volumes of the rare-earth (RE) aluminates, RE4Al2O9. The crystal studied was refined as a two-component pseudo-merohedric twin.