Materials Data on Y2Mg by Materials Project

Abstract

MgY2 crystallizes in the orthorhombic Cmcm space group. The structure is three-dimensional. Mg is bonded in a 6-coordinate geometry to four equivalent Mg and six Y atoms. All Mg–Mg bond lengths are 3.48 Å. There are a spread of Mg–Y bond distances ranging from 3.36–3.39 Å. There are two inequivalent Y sites. In the first Y site, Y is bonded to four equivalent Mg and eight Y atoms to form distorted YY8Mg4 cuboctahedra that share corners with twelve YY10Mg2 cuboctahedra, edges with fifteen YY8Mg4 cuboctahedra, and faces with twelve YY8Mg4 cuboctahedra. There are a spread of Y–Y bond distances ranging from 3.49–3.72 Å. In the second Y site, Y is bonded to two equivalent Mg and ten Y atoms to form a mixture of distorted face, edge, and corner-sharing YY10Mg2 cuboctahedra. There are two shorter (3.49 Å) and two longer (3.72 Å) Y–Y bond lengths.