Synthesis, crystal growth, structural and magnetic characterization of NH4MCl2(HCOO), M=(Fe, Co, Ni)

An ambient-pressure solution route and an improved solvothermal synthetic method have been developed to produce polycrystalline powders and large single crystals of NH4MCl2(HCOO) (M=Fe, Co, Ni). The magnetic structure of the 1D linear chain compound NH4FeCl2(HCOO) has been determined by low-temperature neutron powder diffraction, revealing ferromagnetic intra-chain interactions and anti ferromagnetic inter-chain interactions. The newly-reported Co and Ni analogs are isostructural with NH4FeCl2(HCOO), but there are significant differences in the magnetic properties of each compound; the Ni analog behaves similarly to the Fe compound but with stronger magnetic coupling, exhibiting anti ferromagnetic ordering (T-N=8.5 K) and a broad metamagnetic transition between 2 and 5 T, while the Co analog does not order magnetically above 2 K, despite strong antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor interactions. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.