DOE OSTI2020
Mg3Sb is beta Cu3Ti-like structured and crystallizes in the hexagonal P6_3/mmc space group. The structure is three-dimensional. there are two inequivalent Mg sites. In the first Mg site, Mg is bonded to eight Mg and four equivalent Sb atoms to form distorted MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra that share corners with four equivalent SbMg12 cuboctahedra, corners with fourteen MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra, edges with six equivalent SbMg12 cuboctahedra, edges with twelve MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra, faces with four equivalent SbMg12 cuboctahedra, and faces with sixteen MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra. There are a spread of Mg–Mg bond distances ranging from 3.09–3.25 Å. There are two shorter (3.13 Å) and two longer (3.28 Å) Mg–Sb bond lengths. In the second Mg site, Mg is bonded to eight equivalent Mg and four equivalent Sb atoms to form distorted MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra that share corners with four equivalent SbMg12 cuboctahedra, corners with fourteen MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra, edges with six equivalent SbMg12 cuboctahedra, edges with twelve equivalent MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra, faces with four equivalent SbMg12 cuboctahedra, and faces with sixteen MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra. There are two shorter (3.13 Å) and two longer (3.28 Å) Mg–Sb bond lengths. Sb is bonded to twelve Mg atoms to form SbMg12 cuboctahedra that share corners with six equivalent SbMg12 cuboctahedra, corners with twelve MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra, edges with eighteen MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra, faces with eight equivalent SbMg12 cuboctahedra, and faces with twelve MgMg8Sb4 cuboctahedra.