Zeolites are so well known in real world applications and after decades of scientific study that they hardly need any intro-duction: their importance in chemistry cannot be overemphasized. Here we add to the remarkable properties that they dis-play by reporting our discovery that the simplest zeolite, sodalite, when doped with Cr3+ in the \b{eta}-cage, is a frustrated magnet. Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy and magnetic measurements reveal that the Cr present is Cr(III). Cr(III), with its isotropic 3d3 valence electron configuration, is well-known as the basis for many geometrically frustrated magnets, but it is especially surprising that a material like the Ca8Al12Cr2O29 zeolite is a frustrated magnet. This finding illustrates the value of exploring the properties of even well-known materials families.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2110.03539,
title = {Magnetic Frustration in a Zeolite},
author = {Danrui Ni and Zhiwei Hu and Guangming Cheng and Xin Gui and Wenzhu Yu and Chunjiang Jia and Xiao Wang and Javier Herrero-Martín and Nan Yao and Liu Hao Tjeng and Robert J. Cava},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.03539},
year = {2022}
}