151Eu Mössbauer Spectroscopic Characterization of EuRu4B4 and the New Boride EuRuB4

Abstract

Samples of EuRu4B4 and of the new boride EuRuB4 were prepared from europium, RuB, and RuB4 precursor alloys, respectively, in sealed tantalum tubes in an induction furnace. EuRu4B4 crystallizes with the LuRu4B4 structure, a = 748.1(1), c = 1502.3(4) pm. The structure of EuRuB4 was refined on the basis of X-ray diffractometer data: Pbam, a = 599.7(1), b = 1160.7(3), c = 358.06(7) pm, wR2 = 0.0691, 474 F2 values, and 38 variables. The four crystallographically independent boron sites build up layers which consist of almost regular pentagons and heptagons which sandwich the ruthenium and europium atoms, respectively. Within the two-dimensional [B4] networks each boron atom has a slightly distorted trigonal-planar boron coordination with B-B distances in the range 172 - 186 pm. Temperature-dependent 151Eu Mössbauer spectra show stable trivalent europium for EuRu4B4 and EuRuB4