Electrochemical and mechanochemical formation of solid solutions of potassium copper(II)/zinc(II) hexacyanocobaltate(III)/hexacyanoferrate(III) KCuxZn1-x[hcc]x[hcf]1-x

Electrochemical reduction/oxidation cycles of immobilised powder mixtures of KCu[hcc] and KZn[hcf] as well as their mechanical milling lead to the formation of a quaternary solid solution (mixed crystals) with Cu2+ and Zn2+ on the nitrogen coordinated sites and Fe3+ and Co3+ on the carbon coordinated sites. The reaction products were studied by the X-ray diffractometry and voltammetric techniques. The formation of solid solutions of the general formula KCuxZn1-x[hcc](x)[hcf](1-x) is the first example of an electrochemical and mechanochemical reaction leading to mixed hexacyanometalates.