Coordination Site Disorder in Spinel-Type LiMnTiO4
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 13, 2026

Hyperspectral Imaging as a Tool to Study Optical Anisotropy in Lanthanide-Based Molecular Single Crystals
Published on: April 14, 2020
Denissa T Murphy1, Siegbert Schmid1, James R Hester2
1†School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia.
Abstract:
LiMnTiO4 was prepared through solid-state syntheses employing different heating and cooling regimes. Synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction data found quenched LiMnTiO4 to form as single phase disordered spinel (space group Fd3̅m), whereas slowly cooled LiMnTiO4 underwent partial phase transition from Fd3̅m to P4332. The phase behavior of quenched and slowly cooled LiMnTiO4 was confirmed through variable-temperature synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction measurements. The distribution of Li between tetrahedral and octahedral sites was determined from diffraction data. Analysis of the Mn/Ti distribution in addition required Mn and Ti K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra. These revealed the presence of Mn(3+) in primarily octahedral and Ti(4+) in octahedral and tetrahedral environments, with very slight variations depending on the synthesis conditions. Magnetic measurements indicated the dominance of antiferromagnetic interactions in both the slowly cooled and quenched samples below 4.5 K.
More Related Videos
07:24Quantitative Atomic-Site Analysis of Functional Dopants/Point Defects in Crystalline Materials by Electron-Channeling-Enhanced Microanalysis
Published on: May 10, 2021
11:19Site Directed Spin Labeling and EPR Spectroscopic Studies of Pentameric Ligand-Gated Ion Channels
Published on: July 4, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Valence Bond Theory
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
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,...
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Coordination Number and Geometry
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...