NMR study of ferroelastic phase transition of tetramethylammonium tetrabromocobaltate

Abstract

Static and magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments were carried out on 1H, 13C, and 14N nuclei in order to understand the structural changes of the N(CH3)4 groups in [N(CH3)4]2CoBr4 near the ferroelastic phase transition temperature TC. The two chemically inequivalent N(CH3)4 groups were distinguished using 13C cross-polarization/(CP)MAS and 14N static NMR. The changes in chemical shifts, line intensities, and the spin-lattice relaxation time near TC can be correlated with the changing structural geometry, which underlies the phase transition. The 14N NMR spectra indicated a crystal symmetry change at TC, which is related to the ferroelastic domain with different orientations of the N(CH3)4 groups. The ferroelastic domain walls were confirmed by optical polarizing microscopy, and the wall orientations were described by the Sapriel theory. The transition to the ferroelastic phase was found to be related to the orientational ordering of the N(CH3)4 groups.