STRUCTURE AND PHASE-RELATIONS IN THE NDCL3-NDOCL SYSTEM

Raman spectra of liquid mixtures of the NdCl3-NdOCl binary confirm tha t the network-like structure of chlorine edge-sharing NdCl63- octahedr a in pure liquid NdCl3 is not changed significantly by the addition of NdOCl. Freezing-point depression data at the NdCl3 (l/s) phase bounda ry confirm this conclusion, and suggest that O2- ions are built into t his structure as NdnOCl3n+24- anions with n greater than or equal to 2 . The published phase diagram of the NdCl3-Nd2O3(NdOCl) system is not in agreement with the present data, showing smaller Nd2O3(NdOCl) solub ilities together with higher melting points at the NdCl3(l/s) boundary than the published data.