STRUCTURE AND MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF TETRAGONAL SILVER(I,III) OXIDE, AGO

Teragonal silver(I,III) oxide, AgO, was prepared as a black powder by ozonation of Ag or Ag//2O in aqueous suspension, and investigated by neutron diffraction and magnetic susceptibility measurements. It crystallizes with a body-centered tetragonal structure (a equals 6. 833(3), c equals 9. 122(4) A, space group I4//I/a, Z equals 16) and contains two nonequivalent AG atom sites of which one shows a linear O atom coordination ( left bracket Ag(I)-O right bracket equals 2. 18 A) and the other a slightly deformed square-planar O atom coordination ( left bracket Ag(III)-O right bracket equals 2. 02 and 2. 04 A). The magnetic susceptibility data sugesst diamagnetic behavior and the presence of an oxygen-rich impurity phase which orders antiferromagnetically at T//N equals 50 K.