Copper(II) silver(II) sulfate crystallizes in a monoclinic CuSO4 -related structure with P21 /n symmetry. This quasi-ternary compound features Ag(SO4 )2 2- layers, while the remaining cationic sites may be occupied either completely or partially by Cu2+ cations, corresponding to the formula of (Cux Ag1-x )[Ag(SO4 )2 ], x=0.6-1.0. CuAg(SO4 )2 is antiferromagnetic with large negative Curie-Weiss temperature of -140 K and shows characteristic ordering phenomenon at 40.4 K. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the strongest superexchange interaction is a two-dimensional antiferromagnetic coupling within Ag(SO4 )2 2- layers, with the superexchange constant J2D of -11.1 meV. This renders CuAg(SO4 )2 the rare representative of layered Ag2+ -based antiferromagnets. Magnetic coupling is facilitated by the strong mixing of Ag d(x2 -y2 ) and O 2p states. Calculations show that M2+ sites in MAg(SO4 )2 can be occupied with other similar cations such as Zn2+ , Cd2+ , Ni2+ , Co2+ , and Mg2+ .
Keywords: density functional calculations; exchange interactions; layered compounds; magnetic properties; silver.
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