engleski

The rare earth based intermetallics - a scientist's paradise

Intermatallic compounds based on rare earth metals have drawn considerable interest in contemporary research due to their unique and diversified properties. In this paper some of our contributions to this field are presented. The variety of crystal structures in binary rare earth - transition metal systems are demonstrated with the examples of selected rare earth - noble metal systems. The influence of substitution of nickel by aluminium in the RENi_5 (RE=rare earth) alloys on the crystal structure and hydrogen sorption properties are also given. The hydrogen absorption is restricted to the ternary region and the capacity and the equilibrium pressure decrease with increased content of aluminium. The magnetic properties of the rare earth based intermetallics are illustrated with the magnetic behaviour of cerium in the CePt_5_-_xAl_x system. In this system all single phase alloys are antiferromagnetic and the susceptibility follows a Curie-Weiss behaviour. The observed decrease in valency of cerium is discussed in terms of electron transfer from transition metal to cerium.

intermetallics; rare earth; hydrogen storage; magnetism; crystal structure

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