The glaserite-like structure of double sodium and iron phosphate Na3Fe(PO4)(2)

The double sodium and iron phosphate Na3Fe(PO4)(2) was synthesized and stud ied by the XRD method, the second harmonic generation technique, and Mossba uer and IR spectroscopy. The compound crystallizes into a monoclinic system (space group C2/c) with unit cell parameters a = 9.0736(2) Angstrom, b = 5 .0344(1) Angstrom, c = 13.8732(3) Angstrom, beta = 91.435(2)degrees and is found to be related to the K3Na(SO4)(2) structure type. The crystal structu re was determined by Rietveld analysis (R-wp = 5.86, R-1 = 2.03). Iron cati ons occupy the M (Na) position while sodium cations occupy the X (K) and Y (K) positions of the glaserite-like structure. Mossbauer spectroscopy shows the presence of high-spin Fe3+ in octahedral coordination. (C) 2001 Academ ic Press.