Elsevier, Journal of Solid State Chemistry, (187), p. 172-176
DOI: 10.1016/j.jssc.2012.01.009
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The title compound has been synthesized by a citrate technique. The crystal structure has been investigated at room temperature from high-resolution neutron powder diffraction (NPD) data. It crystallizes in a cubic spinel structure, space group Fd (3) over barm, Z=8, with a=9.0008(1) angstrom at 295 K. It exhibits a crystallographic formula (Mn0.924(2)In0.076(2))(8a)(In1.804(2)Mn0.196(2))(16d)O-4, where 8a and 16d stand for the tetrahedral and octahedral sites of the spinel structure, respectively, with a slight degree of inversion, lambda=0.08. MnIn2O4 shows antiferromagnetic interactions below T-N approximate to 40 K, due to the statistical distribution of Mn ions over the two available sites. Unlike the related MgIn2O4 and CdIn2O4 spinels, well known as transparent conducting oxides, MnIn2O4 is not transparent and shows a poor conductivity (sigma=0.38 S cm(-1) at 1123 K): the presence of Mn ions, able to adopt mixed valence states, localizes the charges that, otherwise, would be delocalized in the spinel conduction band.