New trick for an old dog: from prediction to properties of "hidden clathrates" Ba₂Zn₅As₆ and Ba₂Zn₅Sb₆

Consequentially, the desire to use zinc and antimony as framework elements to encage rattling cations and achieve phonon-glass-electron-crystal-type properties has remained an enticing goal with only two alkali metal clathrates to date, Cs₈Zn₁₈Sb₂₈ and K₅₈Zn₁₂₂Sb₂₀₇. Guided by Zintl electron-counting predictions, we explored the Ba–Zn–Pn (Pn = As, Sb) phase space proximal to the expected composition of the type-I clathrate.

In situ powder X-ray diffraction studies revealed two "hidden" compounds which can only be synthesized in a narrow temperature range. The ex situ synthesis and crystal growth unveiled that instead of type-I clathrates, compositionally close but structurally different new clathrate-like compounds formed, Ba₂Zn₅As₆ and Ba₂Zn₅Sb₆. These materials crystallize in a unique structure, in the orthorhombic space group Pmna with the Wyckoff sequence i²h⁶gfe.