Condensed Matter Seminar - Kamil Dziubek (26.3.2026)
Thursday 26.3.2026 at 14:00, Lecture room F1 108
Dr. Kamil Dziubek (Institute of Mineralogy and Crystallography, University of Vienna):
High pressure chemistry of the group 15 elements and pnictogen nitrides
Abstract:
Based on widely accepted principles of high-pressure crystal chemistry, elements under elevated pressure tend to increase their coordination number and exhibit behavior similar to that of the elements located below them in the periodic table at lower pressures [1,2]. This concept was noted already in the seminal structural chemistry book by Alexander Frank Wells [3], who stated that the crystal structures of gray arsenic (Strukturbericht A7, space group R-3m) and black phosphorus (bP, A17, space group Cmce) can be regarded as distorted forms of the simple cubic (sc, space group Pm-3m) structure. The ideal simple cubic structure is rare in nature and relatively unstable due to its low packing efficiency and coordination number. High-pressure studies have shown that black phosphorus first transforms into the A7 phase and then, passing through a pseudo-simple cubic structure, eventually reaches the sc phase [4,5].
A similar pressure-induced phase transition from the A7 phase to the sc phase has also been observed in elemental arsenic [6]. Recent reports indicate that the polymeric cg-N [space group I2(1)3] and bp-N (bP-type structure, Cmce) phases of nitrogen can also be viewed as distorted versions of a simple cubic atomic arrangement [7]. Moreover, the recently discovered crystalline arsenic nitride AsN, space group P2(1)3 [8], can be considered a highly distorted rock salt (B1, space group Fm-3m) structure [9]. Considering the structural and bonding relationships between group 15 elements and their binary interpnictogen compounds, which have been recently reported, I will draw general conclusions about their atomic arrangements, particularly in light of the group-subgroup relationships of these topologically related crystal structures.
[1] Prewitt, C. T., Downs, R. T. (1998). Rev. Mineral., 37, 283.
[2] Grochala, W., Hoffmann, R., Feng, J., Ashcroft, N. W. (2007). Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 46, 3620.
[3] Wells, A. F. (1975). Structural Inorganic Chemistry. London: Oxford University Press.
[4] Scelta, D., Baldassarre, A., Serrano–Ruiz, M., Dziubek, K., Cairns, A. B., Peruzzini, M., Bini, R., Ceppatelli, M. (2017). Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 56, 14135.
[5] Scelta, D., Baldassarre, A., Serrano-Ruiz, M., Dziubek, K., Cairns, A. B., Peruzzini, M., Bini, R., Ceppatelli, M. (2018). Chem. Commun., 54, 10554.
[6] Ceppatelli, M., Morana, M., Berretti, E., Dziubek, K. F., Glazyrin, K., Scelta, D., Bini, R., Peruzzini, M. (2026). in preparation.
[7] Laniel, D., Winkler, B., Fedotenko, T., Pakhomova, A., Chariton, S., Milman, V., Prakapenka, V., Dubrovinsky, L., Dubrovinskaia, N. (2020). Phys. Rev. Lett., 124, 216001.
[8] Ceppatelli, M., Scelta, D., Serrano-Ruiz, M., Dziubek, K., Morana, M., Svitlyk, V., Garbarino, G., Poręba, T., Mezouar, M., Peruzzini, M., Bini, R. (2022). Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 61, e202114191.
[9] Sukserm, A., Ceppatelli, M., Serrano-Ruiz, M., Scelta, D., Dziubek, K., Morana, M., Bini, R., Peruzzini, M., Bovornratanaraks, T., Pinsook, U., Scandolo, S. (2024). Inorg. Chem., 63, 8142.