A Room-Temperature Verwey-type Transition in Iron Oxide, Fe5 O6

Unveiling the role of inorganic nanoparticles in Earth's biochemical evolution through electron transfer dynamics

This article explores the intricate interplay between inorganic nanoparticles and Earth's biochemical history, with a focus on their electron transfer properties. It reveals how iron oxide and sulfide nanoparticles, as examples of inorganic nanoparticles, exhibit oxidoreductase activity similar to proteins. Termed "life fossil oxidoreductases," these inorganic enzymes influence redox reactions, detoxification processes, and nutrient cycling in early Earth environments. By emphasizing the structural configuration of nanoparticles and their electron conformation, including oxygen defects and metal vacancies, especially electron hopping, the article provides a foundation for understanding inorganic enzyme mechanisms. This approach, rooted in physics, underscores that life's origin and evolution are governed by electron transfer principles within the framework of chemical equilibrium. Today, these nanoparticles serve as vital biocatalysts in natural ecosystems, participating in critical reactions for ecosystem health. The research highlights their enduring impact on Earth's history, shaping ecosystems and interacting with protein metal centers through shared electron transfer dynamics, offering insights into early life processes and adaptations.

Inorganic Fe-O and Fe-S oxidoreductases: paradigms for prebiotic chemistry and the evolution of enzymatic activity in biology

Oxidoreductases play crucial roles in electron transfer during biological redox reactions. These reactions are not exclusive to protein-based biocatalysts; nano-size (<100 nm), fine-grained inorganic colloids, such as iron oxides and sulfides, also participate. These nanocolloids exhibit intrinsic redox activity and possess direct electron transfer capacities comparable to their biological counterparts. The unique metal ion architecture of these nanocolloids, including electron configurations, coordination environment, electron conductivity, and the ability to promote spontaneous electron hopping, contributes to their transfer capabilities. Nano-size inorganic colloids are believed to be among the earliest 'oxidoreductases' to have 'evolved' on early Earth, playing critical roles in biological systems. Representing a distinct type of biocatalysts alongside metalloproteins, these nanoparticles offer an early alternative to protein-based oxidoreductase activity. While the roles of inorganic nano-sized catalysts in current Earth ecosystems are intuitively significant, they remain poorly understood and underestimated. Their contribution to chemical reactions and biogeochemical cycles likely helped shape and maintain the balance of our planet's ecosystems. However, their potential applications in biomedical, agricultural, and environmental protection sectors have not been fully explored or exploited. This review examines the structure, properties, and mechanisms of such catalysts from a material's evolutionary standpoint, aiming to raise awareness of their potential to provide innovative solutions to some of Earth's sustainability challenges.

Orthogonal magnetic structures of Fe4O5: representation analysis and DFT calculations

The magnetic and electronic structures of Fe4O5 have been investigated at ambient and high pressures via a combination of representation analysis, density functional theory (DFT+U) calculations, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. A few spin configurations corresponding to the different irreducible representations have been considered. The total-energy calculations reveal that the magnetic ground state of Fe4O5 corresponds to an orthogonal spin order. Depending on the magnetic propagation vector k, two spin-ordered phases with minimal energy differences are realized. The lowest energy magnetic phase is related to k = (0, 0, 0) and is characterized by ferromagnetic ordering of iron magnetic moments at prismatic sites along the b-axis and antiferromagnetic ordering of iron moments at octahedral sites along the c-axis. For the k = (1/2, 0, 0) phase, the moments in the prisms are antiferromagnetically ordered along the b-axis and the moments in the octahedra are still antiferromagnetically ordered along the c-axis. Under high pressure, Fe4O5 exhibits magnetic transitions with the corresponding electronic transitions of the metal-insulator type. At a critical pressure PC ∼ 60 GPa, the Fe ions at the octahedral sites undergo a high-spin to low-spin state crossover with a decrease in the unit-cell volume of ∼4%, while the Fe ions at the prismatic sites remain in the high-spin state up to 130 GPa. This site-dependent magnetic collapse is experimentally observed in the transformation of Mössbauer spectra measured at room temperature and high pressures.

Verwey-Type Charge Ordering and Site-Selective Mott Transition in Fe4O5 under Pressure

The metal–insulator transition driven by electronic correlations is one of the most fundamental concepts in condensed matter. In mixed-valence compounds, this transition is often accompanied by charge ordering (CO), resulting in the emergence of complex phases and unusual behaviors. The famous example is the archetypal mixed-valence mineral magnetite, Fe₃O₄, exhibiting a complex charge-ordering below the Verwey transition, whose nature has been a subject of long-time debates. In our study, using high-resolution X-ray diffraction supplemented by resistance measurements and DFT+DMFT calculations, the electronic, magnetic, and structural properties of recently synthesized mixed-valence Fe₄O₅ are investigated under pressure to ∼100 GPa. Our calculations, consistent with experiment, reveal that at ambient conditions Fe₄O₅ is a narrow-gap insulator characterized by the original Verwey-type CO. Under pressure Fe₄O₅ undergoes a series of electronic and magnetic-state transitions with an unusual compressional behavior above ∼50 GPa. A site-dependent collapse of local magnetic moments is followed by the site-selective insulator-to-metal transition at ∼84 GPa, occurring at the octahedral Fe sites. This phase transition is accompanied by a 2+ to 3+ valence change of the prismatic Fe ions and collapse of CO. We provide a microscopic explanation of the complex charge ordering in Fe₄O₅ which “unifies” it with the behavior of two archetypal examples of charge- or bond-ordered materials, magnetite and rare-earth nickelates (RNiO₃). We find that at low temperatures the Verwey-type CO competes with the “trimeron”/“dimeron” charge ordered states, allowing for pressure/temperature tuning of charge ordering. Summing up the available data, we present the pressure–temperature phase diagram of Fe₄O₅.

Magnetism and the Trimeron Bond

A review of progress in understanding the Verwey transition in magnetite (Fe₃O₄) over the past decade is presented. This electronic and structural transition at T _V ≈ 125 K was reported in 1939 and has since been a contentious issue in magnetism. Long range Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ charge ordering has been confirmed below the transition from crystal structure refinement, and Fe²⁺ orbital ordering and formation of trimerons through weak bonding of Fe²⁺ states to two Fe neighbors has been discovered. This model has accounted for many spectroscopic observations such as the ⁵⁷Fe NMR frequencies. The trimeron lifetime has been measured, and trimeron soft modes have been observed. The origin of the first to second order crossover of Verwey transitions in doped magnetites has been revealed by a nanoparticle study. Electronic and structural fluctuations are found to persist to temperatures far above T _V and local structural distortions track the bulk magnetization, disappearing at the 850 K Curie transition. New binary mixed-valent iron oxides discovered at high pressure are found to have electronic transitions and orbital molecule ground states similar to those of magnetite.

Structural Diversity of Magnetite and Products of Its Decomposition at Extreme Conditions

Magnetite, Fe₃O₄, is the oldest known magnetic mineral and archetypal mixed-valence oxide. Despite its recognized role in deep Earth processes, the behavior of magnetite at extreme high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) conditions remains insufficiently studied. Here, we report on single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments up to ∼80 GPa and 5000 K in diamond anvil cells, which reveal two previously unknown Fe₃O₄ polymorphs, γ-Fe₃O₄ with the orthorhombic Yb₃S₄-type structure and δ-Fe₃O₄ with the modified Th₃P₄-type structure. The latter has never been predicted for iron compounds. The decomposition of Fe₃O₄ at HPHT conditions was found to result in the formation of exotic phases, Fe₅O₇ and Fe₂₅O₃₂, with complex structures. Crystal-chemical analysis of iron oxides suggests the high-spin to low-spin crossover in octahedrally coordinated Fe³⁺ in the pressure interval between 43 and 51 GPa. Our experiments demonstrate that HPHT conditions promote the formation of ferric-rich Fe-O compounds, thus arguing for the possible involvement of magnetite in the deep oxygen cycle.

Synthesis of Ilmenite-type ε-Mn2O3 and Its Properties

In contrast to the corundum-type A₂X₃ structure, which has only one crystallographic site available for trivalent cations (e.g., in hematite), the closely related ABX₃ ilmenite-type structure comprises two different octahedrally coordinated positions that are usually filled with differently charged ions (e.g., in Fe²⁺Ti⁴⁺O₃ ilmenite). Here, we report a synthesis of the first binary ilmenite-type compound fabricated from a simple transition-metal oxide (Mn₂O₃) at high-pressure high-temperature (HP-HT) conditions. We experimentally established that, at normal conditions, the ilmenite-type Mn²⁺Mn⁴⁺O₃ (ε-Mn₂O₃) is an n-type semiconductor with an indirect narrow band gap of E_g = 0.55 eV. Comparative investigations of the electronic properties of ε-Mn₂O₃ and previously discovered quadruple perovskite ζ-Mn₂O₃ phase were performed using X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy. Magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal an antiferromagnetic ordering in ε-Mn₂O₃ below 210 K. The synthesis of ε-Mn₂O₃ indicates that HP-HT conditions can induce a charge disproportionation in simple transition-metal oxides A₂O₃, and potentially various mixed-valence polymorphs of these oxides, for example, with ilmenite-type, LiNbO₃-type, perovskite-type, and other structures, could be stabilized at HP-HT conditions.

Structural Stability and Properties of Marokite-Type γ-Mn3O4

We synthesized single crystals of marokite (CaMn₂O₄)-type orthorhombic manganese (II,III) oxide, γ-Mn₃O₄, in a multianvil apparatus at pressures of 10-24 GPa. The magnetic, electronic, and optical properties of the crystals were investigated at ambient pressure. It was found that γ-Mn₃O₄ is a semiconductor with an indirect band gap E_g of 0.96 eV and two antiferromagnetic transitions (T_N) at ∼200 and ∼55 K. The phase stability of the γ-Mn₃O₄ crystals was examined in the pressure range of 0-60 GPa using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. A bulk modulus of γ-Mn₃O₄ was determined to be B₀ = 235.3(2) GPa with B' = 2.6(6). The γ-Mn₃O₄ phase persisted over the whole pressure range studied and did not transform or decompose upon laser heating of the sample to ∼3500 K at 60 GPa. This result seems surprising, given the high-pressure structural diversity of iron oxides with similar stoichiometries. With an increase in pressure, the degree of distortion of MnO₆ polyhedra decreased. Furthermore, there are signs indicating a limited charge transfer between the Mn³⁺ ions in the octahedra and the Mn²⁺ ions in the trigonal prisms. Our results demonstrate that the high-pressure behavior of the structural, electronic, and chemical properties of manganese oxides strongly differs from that of iron oxides with similar stoichiometries.

Local Structure and Magnetism of Fe2O3 Maghemite Nanocrystals: The Role of Crystal Dimension

Here we report on the impact of reducing the crystalline size on the structural and magnetic properties of γ-Fe2O3 maghemite nanoparticles. A set of polycrystalline specimens with crystallite size ranging from ~2 to ~50 nm was obtained combining microwave plasma synthesis and commercial samples. Crystallite size was derived by electron microscopy and synchrotron powder diffraction, which was used also to investigate the crystallographic structure. The local atomic structure was inquired combining pair distribution function (PDF) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). PDF revealed that reducing the crystal dimension induces the depletion of the amount of Fe tetrahedral sites. XAS confirmed significant bond distance expansion and a loose Fe-Fe connectivity between octahedral and tetrahedral sites. Molecular dynamics revealed important surface effects, whose implementation in PDF reproduces the first shells of experimental curves. The structural disorder affects the magnetic properties more and more with decreasing the nanoparticle size. In particular, the saturation magnetization reduces, revealing a spin canting effect. Moreover, a large effective magnetic anisotropy is measured at low temperature together with an exchange bias effect, a behavior that we related to the existence of a highly disordered glassy magnetic phase.

A Room-Temperature Verwey-type Transition in Iron Oxide, Fe5 O6

Functional oxides whose physicochemical properties may be reversibly changed at standard conditions are potential candidates for the use in next‐generation nanoelectronic devices. To date, vanadium dioxide (VO₂) is the only known simple transition‐metal oxide that demonstrates a near‐room‐temperature metal–insulator transition that may be used in such appliances. In this work, we synthesized and investigated the crystals of a novel mixed‐valent iron oxide with an unconventional Fe₅O₆ stoichiometry. Near 275 K, Fe₅O₆ undergoes a Verwey‐type charge‐ordering transition that is concurrent with a dimerization in the iron chains and a following formation of new Fe−Fe chemical bonds. This unique feature highlights Fe₅O₆ as a promising candidate for the use in innovative applications. We established that the minimal Fe−Fe distance in the octahedral chains is a key parameter that determines the type and temperature of charge ordering. This model provides new insights into charge‐ordering phenomena in transition‐metal oxides in general.