The stability of the borides M2(Ni21−xMx)B6 (M Ti, Zr, Hf) was studied.
Refined structural data were used to improve the thermodynamic model of the phase.
The M solubility range on the 4a site defines the phase compositional boundaries.
The phase extent is determined by the ability of the 8c polyhedron to expand.
The 8c polyhedron expands/contracts according to the M/Ni average size in 4a.