Abstract
A new sodium arsenate with layer structure has been synthesized and its crystal structure solved and refined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal is trigonal, space group
P
3
¯
m
1
,
a=11.199(3)
Å,
c=5.411(2)
Å,
V=587.80(3)
Å
3,
Z=1; the refinement converged to
R=0.0282 and w
R=0.0751 for 590 reflections with (I)>2sigma(I). The structural model gives the formula Na
7As
11O
32, which would be non-neutral; besides, the structural model is not validated by the charge distribution (CD) analysis, which gives an unsatisfactory agreement on the computed charges of the cations. The CD analysis suggest incomplete (5/6) occupation of the O5 site, which leads to the deficiency of an oxygen atom per unit cell and to formula Na
7As
11O
31: this new structural model corresponds to a neutral compound, is validated by the CD analysis, and results in better displacement parameters for O5 than its non neutral counterpart. The (001) anionic layers are built up from corner and edge sharing of As1 and As2 distorted octahedra and As3 distorted tetrahedra, the sodium cations playing the role of interlayer cations. The effects of the oxygen deficiency on the crystal structure are discussed.
Perspective view of the layer structure of the oxygen-deficient sodium arsenate Na
7As
11O
31.