Crystal structure and Mössbauer study of FeAl₂O₄

In this work the synthesis of hercynite from Fe 2 O 3 and Al 2 O 3 powders was carried out by arc-melting method under the protective argon atmosphere. The obtained material was characterized with the use of powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS). A Mössbauer effect in hercynite obtained by the arc-melting method indicated the cations distribution in the spinel structure among the tetrahedral and octahedral interstices. The presence of Fe 2+ ions was detected in both tetrahedral and octahedral sites while Fe 3+ ions occupied only the octahedral interstices. The approximate formula of the obtained iron-aluminate spinel was as follows (Fe 2+ 0.77 Al 3+ 0.23 ) (Fe 3+ 0.07 Fe 2+ 0.05 Al 0.88 ) 2 O 4 .