Crystal structure of the Al20Mn5.37Ni1.31 phase in the Al–Mn–Ni system
The intermetallic phase with composition Al20Mn5.37Ni1.31 (icosaaluminium pentamanganese nickel) was synthesized by high-temperature sintering of a mixture with initial chemical composition Al60Mn7Ni3. Al20Mn5.37Ni1.31 adopts the Co2Al5 structure type in space-group type P63/mmc, replacing the Co atoms with the transition-metal atoms Mn and Ni. Structure analysis revealed that one of the two transition-metal sites is partially occupied by Ni [refined occupancy 0.342 (2)] and the other is co-occupied by Mn and Ni with a ratio of 0.895 (14):0.105 (14). The present refined chemical composition is supported by complementary energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDX) analysis and is in agreement with the previously determined Al–Mn–Ni phase diagram [Balanetskyy et al. (2011). J. Alloys Compd, 509, 3795–3805].