Carbonate: an alternative dopant to stabilize new perovskite phases; synthesis and structure of Ba3Yb2O5CO3 and related isostructural phases Ba3Ln2O5CO3 (Ln = Y, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm and Lu).

In this paper we report the synthesis of the new layered perovskite oxide carbonate, Ba3Yb2O5CO3. This phase is formed when 3BaCO3 : 1Yb2O3 mixtures are heated in air at temperatures ≤1000 °C, while above this temperature the carbonate is lost and the simple oxide phase Ba3Yb4O9 is observed. The structure of Ba3Yb2O5CO3 was determined from neutron diffraction studies and consists of a tripled perovskite with double Yb-O layers separated by carbonate layers, the first example of a material with such a structure. Further studies showed that analogous Ba3Ln2O5CO3 phases could be formed for other rare earths (Ln = Y, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm and Lu). The results highlight the ability of the perovskite structure to accommodate carbonate groups, and emphasise the need to consider their potential presence particularly for perovskite systems prepared in lower temperature synthesis routes.