Yb9Ni26P12 crystallizes in the hexagonal P-6m2 space group. There are three inequivalent Yb sites. In the first Yb site, Yb(1) is bonded in a 16-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Ni(2), two equivalent Ni(3), two equivalent Ni(4), two equivalent Ni(5), four equivalent Ni(6), and four equivalent P(2) atoms. In the second Yb site, Yb(2) is bonded in a 14-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Ni(1), two equivalent Ni(5), two equivalent Ni(8), four equivalent Ni(4), and four equivalent P(2) atoms. In the third Yb site, Yb(3) is bonded in a 16-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Ni(1), two equivalent Ni(6), two equivalent Ni(7), four equivalent Ni(5), two equivalent P(1), and four equivalent P(3) atoms. There are eight inequivalent Ni sites. In the first Ni site, Ni(7) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to six equivalent Yb(3) and three equivalent P(3) atoms. In the second Ni site, Ni(8) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to six equivalent Yb(2) and three equivalent Ni(4) atoms. In the third Ni site, Ni(1) is bonded to two equivalent Yb(2), two equivalent Yb(3), two equivalent P(2), and two equivalent P(3) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner, edge, and face-sharing NiYb4P4 tetrahedra. In the fourth Ni site, Ni(2) is bonded in a distorted single-bond geometry to two equivalent Yb(1), four equivalent Ni(3), and one P(1) atom. In the fifth Ni site, Ni(3) is bonded in a 10-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Yb(1), two equivalent Ni(3), two equivalent Ni(6), and four equivalent Ni(2) atoms. In the sixth Ni site, Ni(4) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Yb(1), four equivalent Yb(2), one Ni(8), and two equivalent P(2) atoms. In the seventh Ni site, Ni(5) is bonded to one Yb(1), one Yb(2), two equivalent Yb(3), one P(1), one P(3), and two equivalent P(2) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner, edge, and face-sharing NiYb4P4 tetrahedra. In the eighth Ni site, Ni(6) is bonded in a 3-coordinate geometry to one Yb(3), two equivalent Yb(1), one Ni(3), one P(2), and two equivalent P(1) atoms. There are three inequivalent P sites. In the first P site, P(1) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Yb(3), one Ni(2), two equivalent Ni(5), and four equivalent Ni(6) atoms. In the second P site, P(2) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Yb(1), two equivalent Yb(2), one Ni(1), one Ni(4), one Ni(6), and two equivalent Ni(5) atoms. In the third P site, P(3) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to four equivalent Yb(3), one Ni(7), two equivalent Ni(1), and two equivalent Ni(5) atoms.
Yb9Ni26P12 crystallizes in the hexagonal P-6m2 space group. There are three inequivalent Yb sites. In the first Yb site, Yb(1) is bonded in a 16-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Ni(2), two equivalent Ni(3), two equivalent Ni(4), two equivalent Ni(5), four equivalent Ni(6), and four equivalent P(2) atoms. Both Yb(1)-Ni(2) bond lengths are 3.02 Å. Both Yb(1)-Ni(3) bond lengths are 2.83 Å. Both Yb(1)-Ni(4) bond lengths are 3.00 Å. Both Yb(1)-Ni(5) bond lengths are 3.10 Å. All Yb(1)-Ni(6) bond lengths are 2.95 Å. All Yb(1)-P(2) bond lengths are 2.99 Å. In the second Yb site, Yb(2) is bonded in a 14-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Ni(1), two equivalent Ni(5), two equivalent Ni(8), four equivalent Ni(4), and four equivalent P(2) atoms. Both Yb(2)-Ni(1) bond lengths are 3.10 Å. Both Yb(2)-Ni(5) bond lengths are 3.07 Å. Both Yb(2)-Ni(8) bond lengths are 2.86 Å. All Yb(2)-Ni(4) bond lengths are 2.91 Å. All Yb(2)-P(2) bond lengths are 2.92 Å. In the third Yb site, Yb(3) is bonded in a 16-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Ni(1), two equivalent Ni(6), two equivalent Ni(7), four equivalent Ni(5), two equivalent P(1), and four equivalent P(3) atoms. Both Yb(3)-Ni(1) bond lengths are 3.04 Å. Both Yb(3)-Ni(6) bond lengths are 2.99 Å. Both Yb(3)-Ni(7) bond lengths are 2.91 Å. All Yb(3)-Ni(5) bond lengths are 3.04 Å. Both Yb(3)-P(1) bond lengths are 2.84 Å. All Yb(3)-P(3) bond lengths are 2.91 Å. There are eight inequivalent Ni sites. In the first Ni site, Ni(7) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to six equivalent Yb(3) and three equivalent P(3) atoms. All Ni(7)-P(3) bond lengths are 2.22 Å. In the second Ni site, Ni(8) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to six equivalent Yb(2) and three equivalent Ni(4) atoms. All Ni(8)-Ni(4) bond lengths are 2.27 Å. In the third Ni site, Ni(1) is bonded to two equivalent Yb(2), two equivalent Yb(3), two equivalent P(2), and two equivalent P(3) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner, edge, and face-sharing NiYb4P4 tetrahedra. Both Ni(1)-P(2) bond lengths are 2.30 Å. Both Ni(1)-P(3) bond lengths are 2.25 Å. In the fourth Ni site, Ni(2) is bonded in a distorted single-bond geometry to two equivalent Yb(1), four equivalent Ni(3), and one P(1) atom. All Ni(2)-Ni(3) bond lengths are 2.40 Å. The Ni(2)-P(1) bond length is 2.14 Å. In the fifth Ni site, Ni(3) is bonded in a 10-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Yb(1), two equivalent Ni(3), two equivalent Ni(6), and four equivalent Ni(2) atoms. Both Ni(3)-Ni(3) bond lengths are 2.37 Å. Both Ni(3)-Ni(6) bond lengths are 2.45 Å. In the sixth Ni site, Ni(4) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Yb(1), four equivalent Yb(2), one Ni(8), and two equivalent P(2) atoms. Both Ni(4)-P(2) bond lengths are 2.20 Å. In the seventh Ni site, Ni(5) is bonded to one Yb(1), one Yb(2), two equivalent Yb(3), one P(1), one P(3), and two equivalent P(2) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner, edge, and face-sharing NiYb4P4 tetrahedra. The Ni(5)-P(1) bond length is 2.31 Å. The Ni(5)-P(3) bond length is 2.29 Å. Both Ni(5)-P(2) bond lengths are 2.26 Å. In the eighth Ni site, Ni(6) is bonded in a 3-coordinate geometry to one Yb(3), two equivalent Yb(1), one Ni(3), one P(2), and two equivalent P(1) atoms. The Ni(6)-P(2) bond length is 2.17 Å. Both Ni(6)-P(1) bond lengths are 2.31 Å. There are three inequivalent P sites. In the first P site, P(1) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Yb(3), one Ni(2), two equivalent Ni(5), and four equivalent Ni(6) atoms. In the second P site, P(2) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Yb(1), two equivalent Yb(2), one Ni(1), one Ni(4), one Ni(6), and two equivalent Ni(5) atoms. In the third P site, P(3) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to four equivalent Yb(3), one Ni(7), two equivalent Ni(1), and two equivalent Ni(5) atoms.