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Updated: Oct 22, 2026

Synthesis and Exfoliation of Discotic Zirconium Phosphates to Obtain Colloidal Liquid Crystals
Published on: May 25, 2016
KZrF5 and K5Zr3F17·H2O: two Zr-containing fluorides with low birefringence and a broad transparency range
Wenhua Fu1, Zhiyong Xue1, Xin Wen2
1Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Crystal Materials, Institute of Functional Crystal, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China. nye@email.tjut.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Birefringent crystals with low birefringence and a broad transparency range are potential waveplate materials for laser polarization control. Herein, two Zr-containing fluoride crystals, KZrF5 and K5Zr3F17·H2O, were synthesized via a hydrothermal method, featuring two- and one-dimensional structures, built from ZrF7 and ZrF8 polyhedra. Both crystals crystallize in the orthorhombic system, exhibiting calculated maximum/minimum birefringence values of 0.0094/0.0039 for KZrF5 and 0.0059/0.0016 for K5Zr3F17·H2O at 1064 nm, respectively, along the principal crystallographic directions. In addition, both crystals exhibit deep-ultraviolet cutoff edges (<190 nm) and extended infrared absorption edges reaching approximately 8 μm. This work provides two potential alternatives for the development of low-birefringence crystals.
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