PROTON DYNAMICS IN BETA-NI(OH)(2) AND BETA-NIOOH

The INS spectra of nickel hydroxide beta Ni(OH)(2) and its oxidized pr oduct beta NiOOH reveal new aspects of the vibrational dynamics in the se compounds: (i) all the protons in beta Ni(OH)(2) are equivalent and covalently bonded to the oxygen atoms, (ii) the OH bending modes are clearly observed with INS whilst the optical counterparts are not reso lved. A new assignment scheme is proposed and (iii) protons in beta Ni OOH are not specifically bound to any oxygen atom. They are inserted i n lattice sites with high local symmetry.