Thermal stability and crystal structure of high-temperature compound Al13CeMg6

In order to clarify the controversy in the literature reports, we studied the thermal stability of the ternary compound Al13CeMg6 by integrating X-ray powder diffraction, electron probe microanalyzer and differential scanning calorimetry techniques. It was found that the compound Al13CeMg6 decomposes at a certain temperature between 320 and 400 degrees C with a eutectoid reaction: Al13CeMg6 -> Al11Ce3 + Al3Mg2, and melts at 492 degrees C via a peritectic reaction: Liquid + Al11Ce3 -> Al13CeMg6. Moreover, the crystal structure of Al13CeMg6 compound was successfully determined by X-ray powder diffraction using the Rietveld method. The compound crystallizes in the hexagonal, space group P63/mmc (No. 194) with the structure type of MgNi2 and lattice parameters of a = 0.5525(9) and b = 1.7866(2) nm.