Structure refinement and chemical analysis of Cs_3Li(DSO_4)_4, formerly ‘Cs_(1.5)Li_(1.5)D(SO_4)_2’

An accurate structure refinement of the deuterated analog of the cesium lithium acid sulfate, formerly identified as ‘Cs₁.₅Li₁.₅D(SO₄)₂’, has been carried out using neutron diffraction methods. Like the protonated material reported earlier (Merinov et al., Solid State Ionics 69 (1994) 53), the compound is cubic, I¯43d; however, the correct stoichiometry is Cs₃Li(DSO₄)₄. There are four formula units per unit cell and six atoms in the asymmetric unit. The lattice constant measured in this work is a=11.743(2)Å, comparable to the earlier results. The structure contains one disordered hydrogen bond, formed between O(2) atoms and located on two of the edges of the single LiO₄ tetrahedron. The Li site occupancy is 1/3; as is that of the deuterium site. This level of site occupancies is consistent with a structure in which hydrogen bonds are formed only when the lithium site is unoccupied, and explains the otherwise close proximity of the Li and D atoms, 1.394(10)Å. This unusual structural feature furthermore leads to a fixed stoichiometry, as confirmed here by chemical analysis of both the deuterated and protonated materials, despite the partial occupancy of the lithium and deuterium (hydrogen) atom sites