Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 3, 2026

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
LiBaAlF6 and the crystal chemistry of LiAIIBIIIF6 phases
Alexander A Merkulov1, Ludmila I Isaenko, Sergey I Lobanov
1Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russkaya 43, Novosibirsk 58, 630058 Russian Federation.
Abstract:
Lithium barium hexafluoroaluminate (LBAF), LiBaAlF(6), is a new member of the large family of compounds of formula LiA(II)B(III)F(6). These materials display a variety of structures depending on the sizes of the A and B cations. LiBaAlF(6), which is isomorphous with LiBaCoF(6), belongs to the monoclinic P2(1)/c subset and has a three-dimensional network structure consisting of distorted LiF(4)(3-) tetrahedra corner-sharing with AlF(6)(3-) octahedra and BaF(12) polyhedra. All of the atoms reside on general positions. An analysis of the ionic radii of the A cations versus formula volumes for the known members of the family yields a structure map that reasonably segregates the compounds by space group. The data obtained are thus suitable for predicting new isomorphic crystal structures.
Related Concept Videos
Ionic Crystal Structures
Most monatomic ions behave as charged spheres, and their attraction for ions of opposite charge is the same in every direction. Consequently, stable structures for ionic compounds result (1) when ions of one charge are surrounded by as many ions as possible of the opposite...
Metallic Solids
All metallic solids exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivity, metallic luster, and malleability. Many...
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Lattice Centering and Coordination Number
Types of Unit Cells
Imagine taking a large number of identical...
Ionic Bonding and Electron Transfer

