Vanadate Crystals with an Enhanced Birefringence and a Broadened Transparency Spectrum through Controlled [VO3]∞ Chain Arrangements and Alkali Metal Cation Introduction

Jinlei Cheng; Die Xu; Juanjuan Lu; Feng Zhang; Xueling Hou

doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c03325

Vanadate Crystals with an Enhanced Birefringence and a Broadened Transparency Spectrum through Controlled [VO₃]_∞ Chain Arrangements and Alkali Metal Cation Introduction

Inorg Chem. 2023 Dec 11;62(49):20340-20348. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c03325. Epub 2023 Nov 23.

Authors

Jinlei Cheng¹, Die Xu², Juanjuan Lu², Feng Zhang², Xueling Hou²

Affiliations

¹ College of Physical Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, 777 Huarui Street, Urumqi 830017, China.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices for Special Environments, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry, CAS, 40-1 South Beijing Road, Urumqi 830011, China.

PMID: 37997389
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c03325

Abstract

The vanadate (VO) polyhedron offers a compelling avenue for exploring birefringent materials within the infrared frequency range. Among many potential building blocks, the implementation of [VO₃]_∞ chains demonstrated great potential as effective birefringent functional units. In this article, we successfully synthesized the Li_0.8Na_0.2CsV₂O₆·H₂O compound, which exhibits a remarkable birefringence of 0.134 at 546.1 nm, as confirmed by the experiment. Notably, the introduction of alkali metals in this compound led to a significantly shorter cutoff edge at 340 nm. Through a comprehensive investigation, Li_0.8Na_0.2CsV₂O₆·H₂O has the shortest UV cutoff edge among all vanadates, whose birefringences are larger than 0.1, to the best of our best knowledge. This finding underscores the application potential of this novel material as a birefringent crystal.