Crystal Structure Refinement and Magnetic Properties of Fe4(P2O7)3 Studied by Neutron Diffraction and Mössbauer Techniques

Fe₄(P₂O₇)₃ was prepared from Fe(PO₃)₃ and FePO₄ at 940°C under oxygen. The unit cell is monoclinic, space group P2₁/n, with a=7.389(2) Å, b=21.337(1) Å, c=9.517(2) Å, β=90(1)°, and Z=4. The crystallographic structure has been determined from a single crystal through direct methods and difference Fourier synthesis and refined to R=0.10 (R_w=0.09). The three-dimensional framework is built up from Fe₂O₉ clusters of two face-sharing octahedra, linked by bent diphosphates P₂O₇ (P-O-P∼156°). Fe₄(P₂O₇)₃ is antiferromagnetic below T_N=50 K. The magnetic structure has been determinated by means of powder neutron diffraction. There are four antiferromagnetic iron sublattices corresponding to the four crystallographically distinct iron atoms. The magnetic moments are antiferromagnetically coupled inside the Fe₂O₉ dimers, in agreement with the Goodenough rules. They are parallel to the c axis and have 4.55(5) μ_B value at 1.7 K. The magnetic interactions are discussed. Mössbauer spectra are fitted with four doublets and sextuplets in the paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic states, respectively. Their rather high isomer shifts are explained by the inductive effect.