journal article·2020-01-14

Boron-Rich Molybdenum Boride with Unusual Short-Range Vacancy Ordering, Anisotropic Hardness, and Superconductivity

Hu Tang, Xiang Gao, Jian Zhang, Bo Gao, Wenju Zhou, Bingmin Yan, Xue Li, Qinghua Zhang, Shang Peng, Dajian Huang, Lijun Zhang, Xiaohong Yuan, Biao Wan, Chong Peng, Lailei Wu, Dongzhou Zhang, Hanyu Liu, Lin Gu, Faming Gao, Tetsuo Irifune, Rajeev Ahuja, Ho-Kwang Mao, Huiyang Gou

Chemistry of Materials· Volume 32· Issue 1
Publisher page

Abstract

Determination of the structures of materials involving more light elements such as boron-rich compounds is challenging and technically important in understanding their varied compositions and superior functionalities. Here we resolve the long-standing uncertainties in structure and composition about the highest boride (termed MoB4, Mo1–xB3, or MoB3) through the rapid formation of large-sized boron-rich molybdenum boride under pressure. Using high-quality single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, we reveal that boron-rich molybdenum boride with a composition of Mo0.757B3 exhibits P63/mmc symmetry with a partial occupancy of 0.514 in 2b Mo sites (Mo1), and direct observations reveal the short-range ordering of cation vacancies in (010) crystal planes. Large anisotropic Young’s moduli and Vickers hardness are seen for Mo0.757B3, which may be attributed by its two-dimensional boron distributions. Mo0.757B3 is also found to be superconducting with a transition temperature (Tc) of ∼2.4 K, which was confirmed by measurements of resistivity and magnetic susceptibility. Theoretical calculations suggest that the partial occupancy of Mo atoms plays a crucial role in the emergence of superconductivity.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Boron and Carbon Nanomaterials Research · MXene and MAX Phase Materials · Diamond and Carbon-based Materials Research

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, Beijing 100094, China

State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China

State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials & Innovation Center for Computational Physics Methods and Software, College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China

Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China

Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, College of Material Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China

Hawai’i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, United States

Key Laboratory of Applied Chemistry, College of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China

Geodynamics Research Center, Ehime University, Matsuyama 790-8577, Japan

Condensed Matter Theory Group, Materials Theory Division, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Uppsala University, 75120 Uppsala, Sweden

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

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