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Updated: Jul 11, 2025

Synthesis of Nine-atom Deltahedral Zintl Ions of Germanium and their Functionalization with Organic Groups
Published on: February 11, 2012
Threefold coordinated germanium in a GeO2 melt
Songming Wan1,2,3, Shujie Zhang4, Bin Li4
1Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, China. smwan@aiofm.ac.cn.
Abstract:
The local structure around germanium is a fundamental issue in material science and geochemistry. In the prevailing viewpoint, germanium in GeO2 melt is coordinated by at least four oxygen atoms. However, the viewpoint has been debated for decades due to several unexplained bands present in the GeO2 melt Raman spectra. Using in situ Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) computation, we have found a [GeOØ2]n (Ø = bridging oxygen) chain structure in a GeO2 melt. In this structure, the germanium atom is coordinated by three oxygen atoms and interacts weakly with two neighbouring non-bridging oxygen atoms. The bonding nature of the chain has been analyzed on the basis of the computational electronic structure. The results may settle down the longstanding debate on the GeO2 melt structure and modify our view on germanate chemistry.
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