Nanomaterials

Material shows giant thermal expansion

11 February 2008

Silver(I) hexacyanocobaltate( III), Ag3[Co(CN)6], is a framework material that has highly underconstrained Co-CN-Ag-NC-Co linkages. A new study finds that over a wide temperature range, this material can either contract or expand along orthogonal lattice directions with a coefficient an order of magnitude greater than that of most materials. They attribute these large movements to the framework flexing like a hinged lattice, of the sort commonly seen in garden fencing.

This work was published in Science 8 February 2008: Vol. 319. no. 5864, pp. 794 - 797.