Materials Data on Er2(Ni7B2)3 by Materials Project
Er2(Ni7B2)3 crystallizes in the cubic Fm-3m space group. The structure is three-dimensional. Er is bonded to sixteen Ni atoms to form distorted ErNi16 tetrahedra that share edges with six equivalent ErNi16 tetrahedra and faces with four equivalent NiNi12 cuboctahedra. There are four shorter (2.54 Å) and twelve longer (2.93 Å) Er–Ni bond lengths. There are three inequivalent Ni sites. In the first Ni site, Ni is bonded to twelve equivalent Ni atoms to form NiNi12 cuboctahedra that share faces with eight equivalent ErNi16 tetrahedra. All Ni–Ni bond lengths are 2.53 Å. In the second Ni site, Ni is bonded to one Er and three equivalent B atoms to form a mixture of distorted edge and corner-sharing NiErB3 tetrahedra. All Ni–B bond lengths are 2.10 Å. In the third Ni site, Ni is bonded in a distorted bent 150 degrees geometry to two equivalent Er, one Ni, and two equivalent B atoms. Both Ni–B bond lengths are 2.09 Å. B is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to eight Ni atoms.