The effect of vacancies distribution on network flexibility and switching properties of Prussian Blue Analogues

We will study two Prussian Blue Analogues (PBAs) CsxCoy[Fe(CN)6] and RbxMny[Fe(CN)6] which show temperature- or light-controlled magnetic switching due to the spin-crossover present in this materials. The previous studies have identified the presence of hexacyanoferrate vacancies as a key condition for observing the spin-crossover, as the vacancies provide the structural flexibility allowing to accommodate atomic rearrangements required for charge transfer. In our previous work, we have shown that vacancy distribution Prussian Blue Analogues is not random and can be affected by the crystal growth conditions. Thus, the goal for this work is twofold: first, to identify the chemical parameters that affect local structure in the most significant way; second, to exploit the effect of different types of disorder on spin-crossover, in particular, the temperature of the phase transition.