Researchers open path to finding rare, polarized metals ..researchers are turning some of the basic tenets of chemistry and physics upside down.. Drs. James Rondinelli and Danilo Puggioni, researchers in Drexels College of Engineering, have theoretically predicted the existence of a polarized metal chemically termed strontium-calcium ruthenate and are working with experimental groups to produce the compound in a laboratory. The Drexel University researchers are turning some of the basic tenets of chemistry and physics upside down to cut a trail toward the discovery of a new set of materials. Theyre called polar metals and, according to many of the scientific principles that govern the behavior of atoms, they probably shouldnt exist.researcher in the College, have shed light on this rare breed of electrically conductive polar metal—whose atomic makeup actually has more in common with a drop of water than a flake of rust—using an advanced computing method called density functional theory. This automated system of virtual chemical match-making sifts through volumes of structural chemistry data to churn out combinations of elements that could exist as stable compounds. Rondinelli and Puggioni, both members of Drexels Materials Theory and Design Group, worked through a step-by-step process to isolate shared features of known polar metals, thus creating a way to classify them. We sought first to classify all known compounds and look for commonalities and ways to systematically describe them, Rondinelli said. By creating the classification scheme we identified the key features. That knowledge was formulated into a working principle that allowed us to predict a new compound using quantum mechanical calculations. Read more at: phys.org/news/2014-04-path-rare-polarized-metals.html
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 17:47:39 +0000
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