Search for: All records

Quaternary metal‐chalcogenides combining rare‐earth cations with late transition metal cations are attracting growing attention for their optical properties, such as for solar energy conversion or second harmonic generation. Synthetic explorations of theII₃‐I₂‐IV₂‐Ch₈family (II = Eu;I = Cu or Ag;IV = Si, Ch = S or Se) have yielded Eu₃Ag₂Si₂S₈(1) and Eu₃Cu_1.08(1)Si_2.42(1)Se₈(2). Their structures have been characterized by X‐ray diffraction to form in the noncentrosymmetric space groupI3dand to exhibit two distinct types of mixed‐site occupancies, for the Ag(I) cations in1and mixed Cu(I)/Si(IV) cations in2. In both, the cation disorder occurs to achieve charge balancing with the chalcogenide anions. A high yield of1can be achievedwith optical measurements showing indirect and direct band transitions of ≈2.2(1) and ≈2.4(1) eV, respectively. Its second harmonic generation response is found to be relatively strong, approximately 0.9 × AgGaS₂, confirming its noncentrosymmetric structure. Band structure calculations reveal the valence and conduction band edges stem predominantly from the filled Ag(I)/Cu(I)‐based states and empty Si(IV)‐based states, respectively, with additional contributions from the chalcogenide anions. Calculation results also show that cation disorder facilitates a reduction in the antibonding interactions between the Ag(I)/Cu(I)d‐based and chalcogenidep‐based states. 

Abstract Potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃) and sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) are useful inorganic alkali salts with a multitude of uses, although both can be unstable at room temperature. The focus of this work was to react these two unary carbonates together to form KNaCO₃single crystals, and to determine the structure of the resulting crystals. The symmetry of the crystals was assigned to the monoclinic space groupC2/c(No. 15), with lattice parameters (Ǻ) of 5.4546(7), 9.462(1), 6.1282(7), andβ = 95.209(4). The K and Na are located on fully occupied, symmetry-unique atomic positions. The phase evolution of K₂CO₃and Na₂CO₃to form KNaCO₃was also examined using in situ high temperature X-ray diffraction. The final compound in both single crystal and powder form was found to be stable over time at room temperature. 

Two multinary selenides, Ba8Hf2Se11(Se2) and Ba9Hf3Se14(Se2), with unprecedented structure types have been prepared using high-temperature synthesis techniques and represent the first known compounds in the Ba-Hf-Se system. Their structures were determined from single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. The Ba8Hf2Se11(Se2) compound crystallizes in the monoclinic C2/c space group with a = 12.3962(15) Å, b = 12.8928(15) Å, c = 18.1768(17) Å, and β = 90.685(4)°, while Ba9Hf3Se14(Se2) forms in the rhombohedral R space group with a = b = 19.4907(6) Å and c = 23.6407(11) Å. Both have pseudo-zero-dimensional structures with homoatomic Se–Se bonding in the form of (Se2)2− at distances of 2.400–2.402 Å. The structure of Ba8Hf2Se11(Se2) is comprised of [Hf2Se11]14−, Ba2+, and (Se2)2− dimers. Conversely, the Ba9Hf3Se14(Se2) structure contains a novel perovskite-type cluster constructed from eight octahedrally-coordinated Hf cations, i.e., [Hf8Se36]40−, and isolated [HfSe6]8− units which are separated by (Se2)2− dimers and Ba2+ cations. Polycrystalline Ba8Hf2Se11(Se2) is synthesized at 1073 K using a two-step solid-state synthesis method, with the co-formation of a small amount of a BaSe secondary phase. A direct bandgap of 2.2(2) eV is obtained for the polycrystalline sample of Ba8Hf2Se11(Se2), which is consistent with its yellow color. Density functional theory calculations reveal their bandgap transitions stem from predominantly filled Se-4p to empty Hf-5d at the edges of the valence bands (VB) and conduction bands (CB), respectively. The optical absorption coefficients are calculated to be relatively large, exceeding ∼105 cm−1 at about >2.0 eV with effective masses in the CB varying from ∼0.5 me (Γ → A) in Ba8Hf2Se11(Se2) to ∼1.0 me (Γ → L) in Ba9Hf3Se14(Se2). Thus, their optoelectronic properties are shown to be competitive with existing perovskite-type chalcogenides that have been a focus of recent research efforts.