Pressure-induced valence transitions: squeezing electrons from big orbitals to smaller ones
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Date
2017-01-31
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Australian Institute of Physics
Abstract
While bonds in solid-state compounds always have some degree of covalent character, the ionic approximation is usually sufficient to understand their “crystal chemistry” using concepts like the effective ionic radius (IR). IR predicts that an atom will shrink as its oxidation state increases. This occurs gradually as electrons are removed within a shell (e.g., IR(Ir3+) = 0.68, IR(Ir4+) = 0.625, IR(Ir5+) = 0.57 Å in 6-fold coordination), but removing the last electron of a shell produces a much more pronounced change (e.g., IR(Bi3+) = 1.03, IR(Bi5+) = 0.76 Å). For a compound with a suitable combination of cations, it should therefore be possible to effect a net reduction in volume by transferring an electron from one to the other. Temperature and/or pressure could drive such a valence state transition; but in practice, this is extremely rare, with only three cases reported until recently. We tested this idea systematically in a series of high-pressure X-ray and neutron diffraction andspectroscopy experiments on six candidate materials containing Bi3+ with 4d or 5d metal cations. We observed a valence state transition in every case, suggesting that they are far more common than previously thought. This talk will present both published and unpublished experimental results, as well as ab initio calculations that shed light on the finely balanced electronic states of these compounds. The potential for tuning these transitions closer to ambient pressures, and of inverting the effect to give a volume change with an electronic stimulus, will be discussed. © 2021
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Keywords
Neutron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, Pressure dependence, Valence, Oxidation, Expansion, Crystal-phase transformations, Atomic ions
Citation
Ling, C. D., Kennedy, B. J., & Avdeev, M. (2017). Pressure-induced valence transitions: squeezing electrons from big orbitals to smaller ones. Paper presented at the Australian and New Zealand Institutes of Physics Annual Condensed Matter and Materials Meeting, 31 January - 3 February, 2017, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia. (pp.106). Retrieved from: https://physics.org.au/wp-content/uploads/cmm/2017/Wagga_2017_Conference_Handbook.pdf