Syntheses, structures and properties of metal phosphates Pb 2 Mg(PO 4 ) 2 , Pb 4 Zn 8 (PO 4 ) 8 and α-BaZn 2 (PO 4 ) 2

, there are four different Zn-P-O layers, which is reported for the first time in zinc phosphates. In addition, thermal property analysis, and UV-Vis-NIR diffuse reflectance and infrared spectroscopy were also performed. First-principles theoretical studies were also conducted to aid the understanding of their band structures and densities of states.