Synthesis and characterization of pure and Mn-substituted YAl1.15(CO3)yO3+δ: A variation from the classical hexagonal "YAlO3".

Abstract Recent works describing the existence of an intense-blue color within the YIn 1-x Mn x O 3 solid solution due to the presence of Mn3+ cations in trigonal-bipyramidal sites have led to the interest to prepare Al-analogues with the same 5-fold non-centrosymetric coordination. In this framework, YAlO 3 structure has been recently re-examined, concluding the aluminate is indeed an oxycarbonate with the Y 3 Al 3 O 8 CO 3 stoichiometry. In this work, we observed that pure yttrium aluminate is not only obtained for fast thermal treatments below 1000 °C but with higher Al:Y ratio than 1:1. YAl 1.15 (CO 3) y O 3+δ. The corresponding YAl 1.15-x Mn x (CO 3) y O 3+δ solid solutions were successfully prepared showing dull brown colors for the low Mn-content in comparison to Yin 1-x Mn x O 3 series, confirming that the TBP coordination is lost in the aluminate, partly due to the presence of carbonate groups in the structure. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Pure hexagonal YAlO 3 can be obtained with higher Al:Y ratio than 1:1. • The corresponding oxide contains carbonate species, evidenced by TGA and IRTF. • YAl 1.15-x Mn x (CO 3) y O 3+δ solid solutions exhibit dull brown colors. • The absence of bright color is due to the loss of the 5-fold coordination for Mn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]