Ionic species and linkage in ZnBr2–KBr melts

Abstract Structural analyses of (1−x)ZnBr2–xKBr melts were made by time-of-flight pulsed neutron diffraction. The interatomic distance rij of the nearest neighbor Zn–Br pair was estimated at about 2.4 A which was shorter than the sum of ionic radii 2.56 A, indicating the existence of covalent bonding. Furthermore, the co-ordination number nij of the corresponding pair was calculated to be around 4 and the ratio of rBr–Br to rZn–Br was about 1.6 which was nearly equal to tetrahedral geometry 8/3 , implying the tetrahedral configuration. Addition of KBr to ZnBr2 made the linkage of ZnBr42− tetrahedral clustering units break into pieces.