Structures lamellaires: Syntaxie,polytypie et non-stoechiométrie

The paper recalls elementary principles useful for the understanding of some types of nonstoichiometry in the solid state. The structures of layered compounds are mostly characterized by the existence of layered “molecular” entities exhibiting a simple type of bonding; in between are inserted, depending on the case, cations, anions, structural frameworks, or molecules. The layers have a quaternary or a ternary symmetry; in the last case the structures can be polytypic. The phenomenon of syntaxy occurs between polymorphs or between species with different chemical compositions but with structural affinities (identical atomic planes). In some cases an ordered syntaxy between structural blocks yields the chemical compositions of the multiple phases observed for some nonstoichiometric systems, for instance rare earth ones. Ordered syntaxy and polytypism, which can occur simultaneously, give a regular repetition of structural or chemical elements over very long crystalline distances. Those phenomena of order in solids, as yet unexplained, recall ordering phenomena observed in the scope of biological chemistry.