Solution-Based Synthesis of Fe-Co-Ni Prussian Blue Analogue Powders: A Comparative Structural, Spectroscopic and Thermal Study

Abstract

Prussian Blue (Fe-PBA) and its Co and Ni analogues (Co-PBA and Ni-PBA) were synthesized by an additive-free aqueous co-precipitation route using K$_4$[Fe(CN)$_6$] and FeCl$_3$, CoCl$_2$, or NiCl$_2$, respectively. The three powders were systematically compared by X-ray diffraction, ATR-FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, FEG-SEM/EDS, and TG/SDTA. All compositions exhibit the characteristic cubic cyanide-bridged PBA framework, with apparent lattice parameters of 10.10 +/- 0.02, 10.01 +/- 0.02, and 10.10 +/- 0.03 Angstrom for Fe-PBA, Co-PBA, and Ni-PBA, respectively. The dominant C$\equiv$N stretching band in ATR-FTIR shifts from 2062 to 2071 and 2087 cm$^{-1}$ across the Fe-Co-Ni series, indicating composition-dependent changes in the local cyanide environment. Fe-PBA contains less potassium than the Co- and Ni-containing powders and exhibits a substantially larger low-temperature mass loss. Sharp reflections assigned to crystalline KCl are observed in all three diffraction patterns, while additional unassigned reflections in Ni-PBA indicate the presence of at least one further crystalline phase. These results show that differences among Fe-, Co-, and Ni-based PBAs cannot be attributed solely to transition-metal identity, as precursor oxidation state and washing efficiency also influence the composition and thermal response of the resulting powders.