Bismuth tungsten-oxide bronzes - a study of intergrowth phases and related aspects

Ramanan, A and Gopalakrishnan, J and Uppal, MK and Jefferson, DA and Rao, CNR (1984) Bismuth tungsten-oxide bronzes - a study of intergrowth phases and related aspects. In: Proceedings Of The Royal Society Of London Series A, 395 (1808). p. 127.

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Abstract

Reaction of bismuth metal with WO$_3$ in the absence of oxygen yields interesting bronze-like phases. From analytical electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the product phases are found to have the general composition Bi$_x$ WO$_3$ with bismuth in the 3+ state. Structural investigations made with high resolution electron micrscopy and cognate techniques reveal that when x < 0.02, a perovskite bronze is formed. When x $\geqslant$ 0.02, however, intergrowth tungsten bronzes (i.t.b.) containing varying widths of the WO$_3$ slab are formed, the lattice periodicity being in the range 2.3-5.1 nm in a direction perpendicular to the WO$_3$ slabs. Image-matching studies indicate that the bismuth atoms are in the tunnels of the hexagonal tungsten bronze (h.t.b.) strips and the h.t.b. strips always remain one-tunnel wide. Annealed samples show a satellite structure around the superlattice spots in the electron diffraction patterns, possibly owing to ordering of the bismuth atoms in the tunnels. The i.t.b. phases show recurrent intergrowths extending up to 100 nm in several crystals. The periodicity varies considerably within the same crystal wherever there is disordered intergrowth, but unit cell dimensions can be assigned from X-ray and electron diffraction patterns. The maximum value of x in the i.t.b. phases is ca. 0.07 and there is no evidence for the i.t.b. phase progressively giving way to the h.t.b. phase with increase in x. Hexagonal tungsten bronzes that contain bismuth with x up to 0.02 can be formed by starting from hexagonal WO$_3$, but the h.t.b. phase seems to be metastable. Optical, magnetic and electron transport properties of the i.t.b. phases have been measured and it appears that the electrons become itinerant when x > 0.05.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Proceedings Of The Royal Society Of London Series A
Publisher:	Royal Society Of London
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to Royal Society Of London.
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Solid State & Structural Chemistry Unit
Date Deposited:	17 Jun 2009 10:58
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:34
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/20766

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