Oxidation products of the niobium tungsten oxide Nb4W13O47: A high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy study

Nb₄W₁₃O₄₇, a member of the solid solution series Nb_8−nW_9+nO₄₇ (0?n?5), crystallizes in a threefold superstructure of the tetragonal tungsten bronze structure. While the oxidation of this reduced phase at T_OX=1200 °C leads to a separation into the thermodynamically stable phases, lower oxidation temperatures result in products that comprise new structural elements and ordering variants. The characterization of the oxidation products obtained at T_OX=1000 °C was performed by scanning transmission electron microscopy applying a high-angle annular dark field detector. At the selected imaging conditions (Z contrast), not only the metal positions are revealed by this technique but valuable additional information about the elemental distribution can be obtained simultaneously.