UFe2Zn20:: a new uranium intermetallic compound

A new uranium intermetallic compound, UFe2Zn20, was prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, Fe-57 Mossbauer spectroscopy and magnetization measurements. It crystallizes in the cubic <Fd(3)over bar m> space group (a=14.0998(9) Angstrom) and is isostructural with CeCr2Al20 (R=0.045, W-R2=0.12). Mossbauer spectra, taken between 5 K and room temperature, consist of a symmetric quadrupole doublet with narrow lines, confirming an ordered structure with the iron on only one crystallographic site and showing no magnetic ordering transition above 5 K, in good agreement with magnetization measurements. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.