Crystal structure determination of AlVMoO7 from X-ray powder diffraction data

The structure of AlVMoO₇ was solved by direct methods from high resolution X-ray powder diffraction data and refined by the Rietveld method. The lattice constants are a=5.3763(3)Å, b=8.1644(3)Å and c=12.7312Å. Space group Pmcn followed from the systematic extinctions and was confirmed by the successful structure solution. Aluminum is octahedrally coordinated by oxygen, whereas vanadium possesses a distorted pyramidal coordination and molybdenum is tetrahedrally coordinated by oxygen atoms. A three dimensional framework structure results from corner and edge connection of the coordination polyhedra. VO₅ pyramids are edge linked to infinite (VO₂⁺)_∞ chains. Therefore, AlVMoO₇ can be classified as a polyvanadate.