DTA and TG methods were used to study the melting, polymorphic transformation and thermal decomposition processes of alkali metal and ammonium mixed bifluorides formed by mutual replacement of the cations in the crystal lattice. We studied the structural features and the characteristics in the changes of thermal properties of individual compounds, solid solutions with unlimited solubility and solid solutions with limited solubility.Under normal conditions potassium, rubidium and caesium bifluorides are isostructural, crystallizing in the tetragonal system (symmetry group D~-I4/mcm), When subjected to heating, they undergo polymorphic transformation into the cubic phase: KHF2 and RbHF2 assume the structural type of NaC1 (O~-Fm3m), CaHF z that of CsCl, which -close to its melting temperature -passes presumably into the structure of the NaCI type [1,2]. The structure ofaimnonium bifluoride is defined by the presence of N-H... F type hydrogen bonds, besides the bifluoride ions. This structure corresponds to the symmetry group DTu -Pman [3].The thermal properties of these compounds are of interest both from the theoretical view and for practice. They have been studied in great detail : There are numerous data at disposal on their polymorphic transformation, melting behaviour and thermal stability [4][5][6][7].In the present paper we shall discuss thermal properties of mixed bifluorides. These are novel phases, which we were the first to prepare in system of the type MHF~-M'HF2-H20 (M and M' being K, Rb and Cs, resp.) [8 -10]. The X-ray patterns and the parameters of the elementary cells, as well as their dependence on composition were determined, and the structure of the compounds was studied in earlier work [8][9][10][11][12].
ExperimentalThe substances were synthetized from aqueous solutions, amounts being calculated from the data on the corresponding ternary systems [8,9] and identified by chemical analysis and X-ray analysis. For thermal analysis we used the derivatograph manufactured by MOM, with sample weights around 100 mg and heating 3*