Structure refinement and chemical analysis of Cs 3Li(DSO 4) 4, formerly ‘Cs 1.5Li 1.5D(SO 4) 2’

Abstract

An accurate structure refinement of the deuterated analog of the cesium lithium acid sulfate, formerly identified as ‘Cs 1.5Li 1.5H(SO 4) 2’, has been carried out using neutron diffraction methods. Like the protonated material reported earlier (Merinov et al., Solid State Ionics 69 (1994) 53), the compound is cubic, I 4 ̄ 3d , however, the correct stoichiometry is Cs 3Li(DSO 4) 4. There are four formula units per unit cell and six atoms in the asymmetric unit. The lattice constant measured in this work is a=11.743(2) Å, comparable to the earlier results. The structure contains one disordered hydrogen bond, formed between O(2) atoms and located on two of the edges of the single LiO 4 tetrahedron. The Li site occupancy is 1 3 , as is that of the deuterium site. This level of site occupancies is consistent with a structure in which hydrogen bonds are formed only when the lithium site is unoccupied, and explains the otherwise close proximity of the Li and D atoms, 1.394(10) Å. This unusual structural feature furthermore leads to a fixed stoichiometry, as confirmed here by chemical analysis of both the deuterated and protonated materials, despite the partial occupancy of the lithium and deuterium (hydrogen) atom sites.