The New High-Pressure Sodium Tetraborate HP-Na2B4O7

Probing Medium-Range Order in Oxide Glasses at High Pressure

Densification in glassy networks has traditionally been described in terms of short-range structures, such as how atoms are coordinated and how the coordination polyhedron is linked in the second coordination environment. While changes in medium-range structures beyond the second coordination shells may play an important role, experimental verification of the densification beyond short-range structures is among the remaining challenges in the physical sciences. Here, a correlation NMR experiment for prototypical borate glasses under compression up to 9 GPa offers insights into the pressure-induced evolution of proximity among cations on a medium-range scale. Whereas amorphous networks at ambient pressure may favor the formation of medium-range clusters consisting primarily of similar coordination species, such segregation between distinct coordination environments tends to decrease with increasing pressure, promoting a more homogeneous distribution of dissimilar structural units. Together with an increase in the average coordination number, densification of glass accompanies a preferential rearrangement toward a random distribution, which may increase the configurational entropy. The results highlight the direct link between the pressure-induced increase in medium-range disorder and the densification of glasses under extreme compression.

Some boron compounds of semicarbazones: antimicrobial activity and precursor for the sol–gel transformation to nanosized boron oxide

Biologically active boron Schiff base compounds: precursors for the low temperature synthesis of B₂O₃ and B₇O.

High-pressure synthesis and crystal structure of In3B5O12

Orthorhombic In3B5O12 was synthesized in a Walker-type multianvil apparatus under high-pressure/high-temperature conditions of 12.2 GPa and 1500°C. Its structure is isotypic to the rare earth analogs RE 3B5O12 (RE=Sc, Er–Lu). In the field of indium borate chemistry, In3B5O12 is the third known ternary indium borate besides InBO3 and InB5O9. The crystal structure of In3B5O12 has been determined via single-crystal X-ray diffraction data collected at room temperature. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pmna with the lattice parameters a=12.570(2), b=4.5141(4), c=12.397(2) Å, and V=703.4(2) Å3. IR and Raman bands of In3B5O12 were theoretically determined and assigned to experimentally recorded spectra.

Experimental determinations and quantum-chemical calculations of the vibrational spectra of β-ZnB4O7 and β-CaB4O7

The two oxoborates β-ZnB4O7 and β-CaB4O7 were synthesized and investigated by FTIR- and Raman spectroscopy and ab initio quantum chemical calculations. Maximum and mean deviations between experimentally determined bands and calculated modes ranged between 15-36 cm(-1) and 5-7 cm(-1), respectively, allowing band assignments to vibrational modes in most cases. The complex network structures with tetrahedral BO4 and planar OB3 groups are mirrored by the spectra and numerous vibrational modes, not assignable by standard borates classification schemes. It was confirmed that OB3 units, despite similar force constants and geometry, do not absorb in the same range as BO3 units. Bands in the high wavenumber range are rather caused by B-O-(Zn/Ca), O-B-O, B-O-B, and B-O stretching and bending vibrations. The experimental observation of inactive or Raman-active modes in the absorption spectra indicates defects or structural distortions in both compounds.