Anisotropic Electrical, Magnetic, and Thermal Properties of In₃Ni₂ Intermetallic Catalyst

Abstract

We present the anisotropic electrical and thermal transport coefficients (electrical resistivity, magnetoresistance, thermoelectric power, thermal conductivity), the magnetic properties, the specific heat and the electronic density of states of a monocrystalline In3Ni2 intermetallic compound, representing a precious‐metal‐free (and noble‐metal‐free) intermetallic catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes. The investigated physical parameters were determined along three orthogonal crystal‐symmetry directions of the trigonal structure, the twofold axis, the 3 axis and within the mirror plane. All the investigated tensorial and vectorial quantities show the same anisotropy, with the quantities being isotropic for the twofold direction and in the mirror plane, whereas there is small, though still significant anisotropy to the 3 direction. The In3Ni2 crystal conducts the electricity and heat somewhat less efficiently along the 3 direction than along the twofold direction and in the mirror plane, but the differences are not large, of about 20 %. In3Ni2 is a diamagnetic intermetallic compound, with a presumably simple Fermi surface and electrons as the majority charge carriers.