5<Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis>5<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> element dopant cations: Møssbauer probes for studying chemical reactions at the solid-gas interface

Annealing in reducing atmosphere allows stabilization of the Sn⁴⁺, Sb⁵⁺, or Te⁶⁺ dopant cations in a lower oxidation state. Due to its stereochemical activity, the lone electron pair of the resulting Sn²⁺, Sb³⁺, or Te⁴⁺ favors the location of these species in low-coordination sites, immediately on the surface of the substrate-compound crystallites. This allows ¹¹⁹Sn, ¹²¹Sb, or ¹²⁵Te Møssbauer spectroscopy to be applied for studying the processes occurring at the solid-gas interface. Results of such studies, mainly devoted to the Cr₂O₃ antiferromagnetic substrate, were discussed, along with the prospects of searching appropriate substrate-compounds of other types.