Polymorphs of the Gadolinite-Type Borates ZrB2O5 and HfB2O5 Under Extreme Pressure

• Based on the results from previous high-pressure experiments on the gadolinite-type mineral datolite, CaBSiO4(OH), the behavior of the isostructural borates beta-HfB2O5 and beta-ZrB2O5 have been studied by synchrotron-based in situ high-pressure single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments. On compression to 120 GPa, both borate layer-structures are preserved. Additionally, at approximate to 114 GPa, the formation of a second phase can be observed in both compounds. The new high-pressure modification gamma-ZrB2O5 features a rearrangement of the corner-sharing BO4 tetrahedra, while still maintaining the four- and eight-membered rings. The new phase gamma-HfB2O5 contains ten-membered rings including the rare structural motif of edge-sharing BO4 tetrahedra with exceptionally short B-O and B...B distances. For both structures, unusually high coordination numbers are found for the transition metal cations, with ninefold coordinated Hf4+, and tenfold coordinated Zr4+, respectively. These findings remarkably show the potential of cold compression as a low-energy pathway to discover metastable structures that exhibit new coordinations and structural motifs.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Oorganisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Inorganic Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

borates; diamond anvil cell; gadolinite structure; high-pressure chemistry; synchrotron radiation

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