Issue 45, 2022

Large optical anisotropy-oriented construction of a carbonate-nitrate chloride compound as a potential ultraviolet birefringent material

Abstract

The design of new birefringent materials is very significant owing to their indispensable role in modulating the polarization of light and is vital in laser technology. Herein, by applying a large optical anisotropy-oriented construction induced by a synergy effect of multiple anionic groups, a promising carbonate-nitrate chloride, Na3Rb6(CO3)3(NO3)2Cl·(H2O)6, has been designed and synthesized successfully by the solvent evaporation method and single crystals of centimeter size were obtained by the recrystallization method in aqueous solution. It crystallizes in the hexagonal P63/mcm space group, the RbO9Cl polyhedra and the NaO7 polyhedra construct a three-dimensional (3D) framework by sharing O or Cl atoms and trigonal plane units (CO3 and NO3). The transmittance spectrum based on a 1 mm thick single-crystal plate shows that its short UV cut-off edge is about 231 nm. And the refractive index differences (0.14 @ 546 nm) measured by using a polarizing microscope on the (101) crystal plane, proves that Na3Rb6(CO3)3(NO3)2Cl·(H2O)6 has a large birefringence, which has potential application in the solar blind ultraviolet region. The theoretical calculations reveal that the π-conjugated CO3 and NO3 groups are the main cause of the birefringence. It demonstrates that combining π-conjugated CO3 and NO3 groups in one structure is an extremely effective strategy to explore new UV birefringent crystals.

Graphical abstract: Large optical anisotropy-oriented construction of a carbonate-nitrate chloride compound as a potential ultraviolet birefringent material

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
06 Jul 2022
Accepted
28 Oct 2022
First published
09 Nov 2022
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2022,13, 13482-13488

Large optical anisotropy-oriented construction of a carbonate-nitrate chloride compound as a potential ultraviolet birefringent material

M. Cheng, W. Jin, Z. Yang and S. Pan, Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 13482 DOI: 10.1039/D2SC03771H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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