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Hidden polymorphs drive vitrification in B2O3

Nature Materials volume 11, pages 925–929 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Understanding the conditions that favour crystallization or vitrification of liquids has been a long-standing scientific problem1,2,3. Another connected, and not yet well understood question is the relationship between the glassy and the various possible crystalline forms a system may adopt4,5. In this context, B2O3 represents a puzzling case. It is one of the best glass-forming systems despite an apparent lack of low-pressure polymorphism. Furthermore, the system vitrifies in a glassy form abnormally different from the only known crystalline phase at ambient pressure6. Last but not least, it never crystallizes from the melt unless pressure is applied, an intriguing behaviour known as the crystallization anomaly7,8,9. Here, by means of ab initio calculations, we discover the existence of previously unknown B2O3 crystalline polymorphs with structural properties similar to the glass and formation energies comparable to the known ambient crystal. The energy degeneracy of the crystals, which is high at ambient pressure and suppressed under pressure, provides a framework to understand the system’s ability to vitrify and the origin of the crystallization anomaly. This work reconciles the behaviour of B2O3 with that from other glassy systems and reaffirms the role played by polymorphism in a system’s ability to vitrify10,11. Some of the predicted crystals are cage-like materials entirely made of three-fold rings, opening new perspectives for the synthesis of boron-based nanoporous materials.

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Figure 1: Enthalpy as a function of the density for the SiO2 crystalline polymorphs at ambient conditions.
Figure 2: Construction of new B2O3 polymorphs.
Figure 3: Examples of nanoporous structures.
Figure 4: Enthalpy as a function of density for the B2O3 polymorphs.

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Acknowledgements

This work was performed using HPC resources from GENCI-CINES/IDRIS (Grant x2010081875). We thank Ph. Depondt and E. Lacarce for critical reading of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IMPMC, UMR 7590 CNRS-Université P. et M. Curie, 4, Place Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France

    Guillaume Ferlat, Ari Paavo Seitsonen, Michele Lazzeri & Francesco Mauri

  2. Physikalisch-Chemisches Institut der Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057, Switzerland

    Ari Paavo Seitsonen

Authors
  1. Guillaume Ferlat
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  2. Ari Paavo Seitsonen
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  4. Francesco Mauri
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Contributions

G.F. and F.M. conceived the study and with M.L. designed the simulations. G.F. implemented the simulations with help from A.P.S., ran the simulation and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the discussion and interpretation of the results.

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Correspondence to Guillaume Ferlat or Francesco Mauri.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Ferlat, G., Seitsonen, A., Lazzeri, M. et al. Hidden polymorphs drive vitrification in B2O3. Nature Mater 11, 925–929 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3416

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