Issue 11, 2025

“All-four-in-one”: a novel mercury tellurite–nitrate Hg3(TeO3)(Te3O7)(NO3)2 exhibiting exceptional optical anisotropy

Abstract

In recent years, birefringent crystals have attracted much attention in the field of optical materials and play a significant role in laser technology and optical imaging. However, commercially available birefringent crystals are still relatively scarce and need improvement. Low-dimensional structures and well-oriented anisotropic units are conducive to obtaining excellent birefringent materials. Therefore, it is crucial to utilize a molecular engineering strategy for designing crystal structures. Through screening, the tellurite–nitrate system caught our attention because most of them exhibit low dimensional structures. The structure of Hg3(TeO3)(Te3O7)(NO3)2 (HTTN) consists of unprecedented [(Hg3Te4O10)2+] cationic layers built by a [TeO3]2− triangular pyramid, [(Te3O7)2−] chains, and novel [(Hg3O7)8−] chains balanced by isolated NO3 anions. Here, HTTN with multiple functional units was obtained. HTTN has a birefringence value of 0.295 @ 546 nm, which is significantly higher than those of all commercially available birefringent crystals and exhibits the highest value among tellurite–nitrate birefringent crystals. Structural analysis and theoretical calculations reveal that the synergistic interaction between [TeO3]2− (5.19%) and [NO3] (7.32%) groups and [(Te3O7)2−] (36%) and [(Hg3O7)8−] (51.49%) chains plays a crucial role in the optical anisotropy of HTTN. This study demonstrates that introducing functional units with high optical anisotropy is an effective strategy for developing high-performance birefringent materials.

Graphical abstract: “All-four-in-one”: a novel mercury tellurite–nitrate Hg3(TeO3)(Te3O7)(NO3)2 exhibiting exceptional optical anisotropy

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Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
02 Dec 2024
Accepted
01 Feb 2025
First published
03 Feb 2025
This article is Open Access

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

Chem. Sci., 2025,16, 4749-4754

“All-four-in-one”: a novel mercury tellurite–nitrate Hg3(TeO3)(Te3O7)(NO3)2 exhibiting exceptional optical anisotropy

R. Tang, Y. Lv, L. Ma, B. Miao, W. Liu and S. Guo, Chem. Sci., 2025, 16, 4749 DOI: 10.1039/D4SC08166H

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