Structural properties of RT3 deuterides synthesized under high pressure of deuterium

Deuterides of ErNi3, CeCo3 and CeNi3 intermetallic compounds are synthesized under deuterium pressures up to 2000 atm and studied by X-ray powder diffraction under ambient conditions. The deuterides are shown to have the same structures of the metal lattice as the initial alloys, the deuteration resulting only in the anisotropic lattice expansion. The deuterides of ErNi3 show weaker anisotropy in the lattice expansion than the deuterides of CeCo3 and CeNi3. The formation of CeNi3D5 at a pressure of about 2000 atm is accompanied by partial amorphization of the sample. The deuteration induces preferred orientation of the powder particles of each alloy and this orientation is retained after thermodesorption of the deuterium. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.