Crystal structure, thermal expansion and magnetic properties of Pr2Cu0.8Ge3 compound

A new ternary compound. Pr2Cu0.8Ge3, was synthesized and its physical property investigated. The Rietveld method was used to refine the powder X-ray diffraction data and the results show that Pr2Cu0.8Ge3 crystallized in an a-ThSi2-type tetragonal structure with the space group I4(1)/amd (No. 141), a=0.42001(1) nm, c=1.44147(2) nm, Z=2 and D-calc = 7.322 g cm(-3). Lattice thermal expansion study was carried out by high-temperature powder X-ray diffraction technique from room temperature (293 K) to 803 K, and the calculated lattice and volume thermal expansion coefficients obtained were 1.57 x 10(-5) K-1, 1.03 x 10(-5) K-1 and 4.18 x 10(-5) K-1 for (alpha) over bar (a), (alpha) over bar (c), and (alpha) over bar (V), respectively. The magnetic susceptibility of Pr2Cu0.8Ge3 was found to follow the Curie-Weiss law in the 20-300K temperature range. The effective magnetic moment (mu(eff)) and paramagnetic Curie temperature (theta(p)) were estimated to be 3.56(3) mu(B) and 17.5(2) K, respectively. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.