Large crystal structures continue to astonish us.  While biological crystals are the best known examples of large unit-celled crystals, inorganic, and in particular metal crystals prove to be not far behind in complexity.  Brass (copper-zinc mixtures) prove to have unit cell axes up to 2000 Angstroms a side.In this talk, we will discuss the structures of  Li21Si5, Sm11Cd45 and Mg44Ir7, crystals with 400-500 atoms in their unit cell.  Each of these structures contain hidden pseudo-symmetries.  We will discuss what these pseudo-symmetries have to tell us about the geometric principles governing metal construction.  We will also go into the electronic structure principles responsible for these chemical systems.

Large metal crystals and what they have to tell us: Li21Si5, Sm11Cd45 and Mg44Ir7

244th National Meeting (2012)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.