Synthese et structure cristalline d'un nouvel oxyde mixte “FeV3O8” (FexV1−xO2; x ⋍ 0.25)

Single crystals of a new oxide “FeV₃O₈” ($\text{Fe}{}_{\mathrm{x}}\text{V}{}_{\mathrm{1?x}}\text{O}{}_2\text{: x ? 0.25}$) have been synthesized by slowly cooling a melted mixture with the composition, 8VO₂, 3V₂O₅, Fe₂O₃. The chemical formula has been determined by electron microprobe analysis. The compound, isostructural with AlNbO₄ and VO₂(B), has a monoclinic symmetry, space group $\text{C2}\text{m}$; the unit cell dimensions are a = 12.13Å, b = 3.679 Å, c = 6.547 Å, β = 106.85°. A structural refinement based on single crystal data has been carried out. It gave an R-factor of 1.9%. This refinement indicated that the iron and vanadium cations are partially ordered, although the average cation-oxygen distances for the two six-coordinated cations were exactly the same (1.961 Å). This conjecture was supported by the calculation of the cation valences.