Abstract
Why would anyone want to look at the structure(s) of such a simple material as AIF3? The answer to this question is as clear as the hole in the ozone layer: AIF3 phases have diverse catalytic properties where fluorochlorocarbons are concerned and could play an important role in the production of more benign Freons®. Some examples of their extensive diversity are given below: @@@@@@@@@@[Equation] Ok, but surely the phase diagram and the structural details were worked out years ago? As it turns out, until the recent effort to make Freon® substitutes, most of the purported AlF3 phases were known only from their x-ray powder diffraction signatures, very little had been done in the way of actually determining the structures of these materials or even to demonstrate that they actually were pure and unique phases. As the Freon® substitutes program geared up, all of the phases came under closer scrutiny. In addition, new methods of synthesis were yielding previously unknown phases of AIF3 but only in microcrystalline, “powder” form. It was then clear that detailed characterizations of these materials would require ab initio structure determinations from their powder diffraction patterns, the best of which could only be obtained from synchrotron sources. This chapter discusses some of our experiences with this technique and outlines the structural results which we have obtained on a number of aluminum fluoride compounds.
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References
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Harlow, R.L., Herron, N., Thorn, D.L. (1996). The Crystal Structures of Some New Forms of Aluminum Fluoride as Determined from their Synchrotron Powder Diffraction Patterns. In: D’Amico, K.L., Terminello, L.J., Shuh, D.K. (eds) Synchrotron Radiation Techniques in Industrial, Chemical, and Materials Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5837-8_3
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