Liquid alumina: detailed atomic coordination determined from neutron diffraction data using empirical potential structure refinement.
The neutron scattering structure factor S(N)(Q) for a 40 mg drop of molten alumina (Al2O3) held at 2500 K, using a laser-heated aerodynamic levitation furnace, is measured for the first time. A 1700 atom model of liquid alumina is generated from these data using the technique of empirical potential structural refinement. About 62% of the aluminum sites are 4-fold coordinated, matching the mostly triply coordinated oxygen sites, but some 24% of the aluminum sites are 5-fold coordinated. The octahedral aluminum sites found in crystalline alpha-Al2O3 occur only at the 2% level in liquid alumina.
Landron
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Centre de Recherches sur les Matériaux à Haute Température, 45071, Orléans Cedex 2, France.
Hennet
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Jenkins
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Greaves
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Coutures
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JP
Soper
A K
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