Resolving Configurational Disorder for Impurities in a Low-Entropy Phase

Hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) exerts a strong control over the transport of minor but critical metals in the environment and is used in multiple industrial applications; the photocatalysis community has explored the properties of hematite nanoparticles over a wide range of transition metal dopants. Nonetheless, simplistic assumptions are used to rationalize the local coordination environment of impurities in hematite. Here, we use ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD)-guided structural analysis to model the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of Cu²⁺- and Zn²⁺-doped hematite nanoparticles. Specific defect-impurity associations were identified, and the local coordination environments of Cu and Zn both displayed considerable configurational disorder that, in aggregate, approached Jahn-Teller-like distortion for Cu but, in contrast, maintained hematite-like symmetry for Zn. This study highlights the role of defects in accommodating impurities in a nominally low-entropy phase and the limits to traditional shell-by-shell fitting of EXAFS for dopants/impurities in unprecedented bonding environments.