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Icosahedral packing of B12 icosahedra in boron suboxide (B6O)

Nature volume 391, pages 376–378 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Objects with icosahedral symmetry (Ih) bear a special fascination; natural examples are rare, but include radiolaria1 and virus particles (virions)2. The discovery3 of C60, a molecule in the shape of a truncated icosahedron with Ih symmetry, has aroused widespread interest. In 1962, Mackay4 described a radiating packing of spheres in Ih symmetry, in which the centres of successive shells of spheres lie on the surfaces of icosahedra. There has been extensive investigation of the conditions under which such packing might be realized in assemblies of atoms or of molecules such as C60 (ref. 5). Here we report the preparation, at high temperatures and pressures, of boron suboxide (B6O) in which the preferred form of the material is as macroscopic, near-perfect, regular icosahedra, similar to the multiply-twinned particles observed in some cubic materials. A major difference is that B6O has a rhombohedral structure that nearly exactly fits the geometrical requirements needed to obtain icosahedral twins. These icosahedral particles have a structure that can be described as a Mackay packing of icosahedral B12 units, and thus has long-ranged order without translational symmetry.

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Figure 1: An element of decagonal sphere packing.
Figure 3: Morphology of B6O MTPs.
Figure 2: Reflected-light optical image of B6O icosahedral particles.
Figure 4: A part of the B6O structure showing c.c.p. packing (slightly distorted) of B12 icosahedra with O atoms (filled circles) in the close-packed layers.

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Acknowledgements

We thank K. Leinenweber for helpful discussions. This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation.

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Author notes

  1. Bertrand Devouard

    Present address: Département de Géologie, UMR 6524 Magmas et Volcans, 5, rue Kessler, F-63038, Clermont-Ferrand cedex, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, MRSEC, Arizona State University, Tempe, 85287, Arizona, USA

    Hervé Hubert, Michael O'Keeffe, William T. Petuskey & Paul F. McMillan

  2. Departments of Geology and Chemistry & Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, 85287, Arizona, USA

    Bertrand Devouard, Laurence A. J. Garvie & Peter R. Buseck

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Correspondence to Hervé Hubert.

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Hubert, H., Devouard, B., Garvie, L. et al. Icosahedral packing of B12 icosahedra in boron suboxide (B6O). Nature 391, 376–378 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/34885

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