Synthesis,Structural Characterization and Physical Properties of a New Member of Ternary Lithium Layered Compounds – Li2RhO3

Li₂RhO₃ was synthesized by solid state reaction and its crystal structure was refined from X‐ray powder data by the Rietveld‐method. The compound was obtained as a black powder and crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/m, with unit cell parameters a = 5.1198(1), b = 8.8497(1), c = 5.1030(1) Å, β = 109.61(2) °, V = 217.80(1), and Z = 4. The structure determination shows that the oxygen atoms in Li₂RhO₃ form an approximate cubic close packing, where all octahedral voids are occupied by Rh⁴⁺ and Li⁺ cations. The structure is closely related to the α‐NaFeO₂ and Li₂MnO₃ layered structure types (layered variants of the NaCl‐type), but in Li₂RhO₃ the lithium and rhodium atoms are partially disordered. Li₂RhO₃ behaves as a semiconductor with rather small activation energy of 7.68 kJ · mol^–1 and is thermally stable up to 1273 K in argon atmosphere. According to measurements of the magnetic susceptibility in the temperature range from 2 to 330 K, Li₂RhO₃ is paramagnetic, obeys the Curie–Weiss law at temperatures above 150 K, and has an effective magnetic moment of 1.97 μ_B at 300 K.