Phonon Spectroscopy in Antimony and Tellurium Oxides.

α-SbO (senarmontite), β-SbO (valentinite), and α-TeO (paratellurite) are compounds with pronounced stereochemically active Sb and Te lone pairs. The vibrational and lattice properties of each have been previously studied but often lead to incomplete or unreliable results due to modes being inactive in infrared or Raman spectroscopy. Here, we present a study of the relationship between bonding and lattice dynamics of these compounds.

Ba-filled Ni-Sb-Sn based skutterudites with anomalously high lattice thermal conductivity.

Novel filled skutterudites BayNi4Sb12-xSnx (ymax = 0.93) have been prepared by arc melting followed by annealing at 250, 350 and 450 °C up to 30 days in vacuum-sealed quartz vials. Extension of the homogeneity region, solidus temperatures and structural investigations were performed for the skutterudite phase in the ternary Ni-Sn-Sb and in the quaternary Ba-Ni-Sb-Sn systems.

Confined lattice dynamics of single and quadruple SnSe bilayers in [(SnSe)(1.04)](m)[MoSe2](n) ferecrystals.

The Sn specific densities of phonon states in the SnSe subunits of [(SnSe)1.04]m[MoSe2]n ferecrystals with (m,n) = (1,1), (4,1) and in bulk SnSe were derived from nuclear inelastic scattering by the (119)Sn Mössbauer resonance. Using different measurement configurations, phonons with polarization parallel and perpendicular to the ferecrystal plane were specifically probed.

On the True Indium Content of In-Filled Skutterudites.

The incongruently melting single-filled skutterudite InxCo4Sb12 is known as a promising bulk thermoelectric material. However, the products of current bulk syntheses contain always impurities of InSb, Sb, CoSb, or CoSb2, which prevent an unbiased determination of its thermoelectric properties. We report a new two-step synthesis of high-purity InxCo4Sb12 with nominal compositions x = 0.

Eu9Cd4-xCM2+x-y□ySb9: Ca9Mn4Bi9-type structure stuffed with coinage metals (Cu, Ag, and Au) and the challenges with classical valence theory in describing these possible zintl phases.

The synthesis, crystal structure, magnetic properties, and europium Mössbauer spectroscopy of the new members of the 9-4-9 Zintl family of Eu(9)Cd(4-x)CM(2+x-y)□(y)Sb(9) (CM = coinage metal: Au, Ag, and Cu) are reported. These compounds crystallize in the Ca(9)Mn(4)Bi(9) structure type (9-4-9) with the 4g interstitial site almost half-occupied by coinage metals; these are the first members in the 9-4-9 family where the interstitial positions are occupied by a monovalent metal. All previously known compounds with this structure type include divalent interstitials where these interstitials are typically the same as the transition metals in the anionic framework.