Vanadium valency charge state in solid solutions ScNb2−2xTa2xVO9 Original Research Article

Phase equilibria in the Sc2O3-V2O5-Nb2O5-Ta2O5 system and properties of ScNb2−2xTa2xVO9 phases were studied by X-ray phase analysis, optical and radio spectroscopy. A continuous series of solid solutions was shown to exist at 0≤x≤1. V(IV) centers with different crystallographic surrounding were detected for all the considered compositions. A correlation between the number of V(IV) ions and the width of the forbidden gap in the solid solutions was found.