Synthesis of a Two-dimensional van der Waals Frustrated Antiferromagnet: Mn2Al2S5
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Date
2025-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
There has been significant interest in the discovery of new two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials which exhibit magnetic phenomena at thin layers, as these materials can prove to be useful as magnetic building blocks. Here, we report a new 2D vdW phase, Mn2Al2S5, and explore its magnetic, physical, and structural properties. We establish a route towards growing powders of this new material by combining stoichiometric equivalents of MnS and Al2S3 in sealed quartz tube synthesis. The Mn2Al2S5 phase consists of AlS4 tetrahedra which tops double-octahedral thick MnS6 layers. Diffuse reflectance absorbance measurements show this material’s band gap is 1.43 eV. Due to the double layering of metals, there is a competing magnetic interaction between them and the Mn2Al2S5 phase is magnetically frustrated. It shows antiferromagnetic characteristic, and a magnetic transition temperature at 10 K, compared with a Weiss constant of -328 K, producing a frustration index of 32.8. Overall, the Mn2Al2S5 phase as a 2D vdW material proves to show interesting and useful characteristics due to its frustrated magnetic structure.
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Keywords
van der Waals, Mn2Al2S5, Antiferromagnet, Chemistry, Solid-state Chemistry, Two dimensional, Magnetism