Apparent Scarcity of Low-Density Polymorphs of Inorganic Solids

For most inorganic solids, very few dense polymorphs and no low-density polymorphs are observed. Taking a wide range of tetrahedrally-coordinated binary solids (e.g., ZnO, GaN) as a prototypical system, we show that the apparent scarcity of low- density polymorphs is not due to significant structura...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Zwijnenburg, M. A., Illas i Riera, Francesc, Bromley, Stefan Thomas
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2010
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/137963
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/137963
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Polímers inorgànics
Inorganic polymers
Descripción
Sumario:For most inorganic solids, very few dense polymorphs and no low-density polymorphs are observed. Taking a wide range of tetrahedrally-coordinated binary solids (e.g., ZnO, GaN) as a prototypical system, we show that the apparent scarcity of low- density polymorphs is not due to significant structural or energetic limitations. Using databases of periodic networks as sources of novel crystal structures, followed by ab initio energy minimization, we predict a dense spectrum of low-density low-energy polymorphs. The diverse range of materials considered indicates that this is likely to be a general phenomenon.