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The structures of four families of intermetallic compounds are analyzed in terms of the number, sizes, positions and symmetry properties of tetrahedral interstitial holes. The structure types considered are hexagonal AB5 (D2d), cubic AB2 (C15), hexagonal AB2 (C14) and orthorhombic AB (Bf). Holes and clusters of holes are considered in terms of their suitability for hydrogen occupancy in the formation of intermetallic compound hydrides. In the cases of the hydrides LaNi5H6 and LaCo5H4, the parent hexagonal structure P6/mmm is changed on hydriding to trigonal P31m in the former case and to orthorhombic Cmmm in the latter case. The symmetry changes that correspond to these transformations are shown to be directly related to the amount of hydrogen absorbed; i.e. some potential sites in the parent compound are retained and others are not, depending on the structural change. In those cases where structural data for the hydride phases are not available or where the parent structure does not change on hydriding, it is shown that reasonable estimates of the extent of hydrogen absorption can be made based on the number and the sizes of available holes or hole clusters in the parent compound.

A correlation has been established between the stabilities of metal hydrides (measured in terms of the free energies of formation of the hydride phase per mole H 2 ) and the radii of tetrahedral holes in both hexagonal AB 5 (D2 d ) and cubic AB (B 2 ) intermetallic compounds. The correlation demonstrates that as the tetrahedral hole size increases, the stability increases. The results of this correlation show conclusively that hole size can be employed effectively in determining the stabilities of intermetallic compound-hydrogen phases. A model, which depends solely upon lattice parameters, was developed to compute the radii of tetrahedral holes in hexagonal AB 5 intermetallic compounds. A similar model, which requires a ratio of metallic radii in addition to the lattice parameter, has been employed to compute the radii of tetrahedral holes in the cubic AB intermetallic compounds. The thermodynamic and structural properties of hexagonal AB 5 -hydrogen systems and cubic AB-hydrogen systems have been compiled and are presented. The quantitative correlations are excellent. A change in valence of the A atom in the hexagonal AB 5 intermetallic compounds may have a significant effect on the stabilities of the hydride phases formed. In those cases where the B atoms were partially substituted in the hexagonal AB 6 and the cubic AB intermetallic compounds, a good correlation of stability with hole size was found. Gross deviations of the Ce-base AB 5 hydride data from the correlation line established by all the other AB 5 hydrides were observed. These were rationalized on the basis of well-documented stress-induced lattice contractions of Ce intermetallic compounds. The resulting contracted hole sizes of the CeNi 5 and CeCo 5 compounds modified the stability of their hydrides. These compound hydrides demonstrate a displaced but similar correlation to the other AB 5 hydrides, i.e . the smaller the hole size, the less stable is the system.

The CaF2-type dihydrides of the group IIIa elements represent a relatively large family of similar metallic hydrides for which relationships between interatomic distances and stabilities can be derived. Available data for the thermodynamic properties of formation of these dihydrides were assembled and the enthalpies and free energies of formation are compared with the metal-hydrogen distances in the hydrides. The data show that for these hydrides there is a maximum in the stability-distance curve; the most stable dihydrides are HoH2 and DyH2 with metal-hydrogen distances of 2.237A and 2.252 A respectively. A modified Born-Mayer ionic model is applied to this family of dihydrides. In addition to the usual Coulomb (attraction) and overlap (repulsion) terms, an additional attraction term is introduced to take into account residual metallic cohesion in the hydride lattice. The results obtained from this model are compared with the thermochemical data using the BornHaber cycle. In making this comparison a parameter β (which has units of length) is introduced which accounts for the influence of the 4f electronic structure on the repulsive potential for the lanthanide dihydrides. It is shown that the relation between stability and the sum of the metallic radius and the tetrahedral hole radius (in the metal) is similar to that between stability and the actual metal-hydrogen distance in these dihydrides. This similarity is used to rationalize observed correlations between stability and tetrahedral hole sizes in intermetallic compound hydrides.