C. Laberty et al., CHARACTERIZATION OF NONSTOICHIOMETRIC NICKEL MANGANITE SPINELS NIXMN3-X-SQUARE-O-3-DELTA 4(4+DELTA) BY TEMPERATURE-PROGRAMMED REDUCTION/, Solid state ionics, 110(3-4), 1998, pp. 293-302
Cation deficient spinels Ni(x)Mn(3-x)square(3 delta/4)O(4+delta) (0 le
ss than or equal to x less than or equal to 1) have been prepared by t
hermal decomposition of mixed oxalates Nix/3Mn(3-x/3)(C2O4). nH(2)O in
air at 623 K. They have been characterised by temperature programmed
reduction (TPR) under H-2, the reaction being followed by gravimetric
and powder X-ray diffraction measurements. It has been shown that TPR
proceeds in several steps. The first steps correspond to the loss of n
onstoichiometric oxygen leading to the formation of a stoichiometric o
xide. During the following stages the manganese cations are reduced, c
ausing the spinel structure to be destroyed, and the formation of soli
d solution of NiO in a cubic MnO. Subsequently, Ni2+ cations undergo a
reduction to metallic nickel, and, finally, a mixture of nonstoichiom
etric MnO1-delta and metallic nickel is formed. These oxides contain a
high level of vacancies which vary with the nickel content with a max
imum of delta approximate to 1 near x = 0.6. This nonstoichiometry is
ascribed both to the presence of Ni3+ and excess of Mn4+. (C) 1998 Els
evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.