DOE OSTI2020
ZnTl3 is beta Cu3Ti-like structured and crystallizes in the tetragonal I4/mmm space group. The structure is three-dimensional. Zn is bonded to twelve Tl atoms to form distorted ZnTl12 cuboctahedra that share corners with four equivalent ZnTl12 cuboctahedra, corners with eight equivalent TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra, edges with eight equivalent ZnTl12 cuboctahedra, edges with sixteen equivalent TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra, faces with four equivalent ZnTl12 cuboctahedra, and faces with fourteen TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra. There are four shorter (3.37 Å) and eight longer (3.43 Å) Zn–Tl bond lengths. There are two inequivalent Tl sites. In the first Tl site, Tl is bonded to four equivalent Zn and eight Tl atoms to form distorted TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra that share corners with twelve equivalent TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra, edges with eight equivalent ZnTl12 cuboctahedra, edges with sixteen TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra, faces with four equivalent ZnTl12 cuboctahedra, and faces with fourteen TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra. There are four shorter (3.37 Å) and four longer (3.43 Å) Tl–Tl bond lengths. In the second Tl site, Tl is bonded to four equivalent Zn and eight equivalent Tl atoms to form TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra that share corners with four equivalent TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra, corners with eight equivalent ZnTl12 cuboctahedra, edges with twenty-four TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra, faces with six equivalent ZnTl12 cuboctahedra, and faces with twelve TlTl8Zn4 cuboctahedra.