Tag : Kyoto

Kyoto: Scientists at Kyoto University's Institute for Cell-Material Sciences have discovered a new compound from the group that could prove to be a catalyst. The compounds known as polyoxometalates contain a large group of metal oxides that carry a negative charge. They are found everywhere from antiviral drugs to rechargeable batteries and flash memory devices. The new cluster compound is a hydroxy-iodide (HSbOI) and is unusual, as it has large, positively charged clusters. Only a handful of such positively charged cluster compounds have been found and studied. "In science, the discovery of new material or molecule can create a new science," says Kyoto University chemist Hiroshi Kageyama. "I believe that these new positively charged clusters have great potential." The first metal oxide cluster was discovered in 1826. Chemists have since synthesized hundreds of compounds with negatively charged clusters, which have properties useful in magnetism, catalysis, ionic conduction, biological applications and quantum information. Their properties make them useful in diverse fields from catalysis to medicine and chemical synthesis. In more recent years, scientists have focused their attention on synthesizing compounds with positively charged clusters and learning their properties. Kageyama and his colleague Ryu Abe found their positive cluster by accident. Since 2016, the two scientists - Kageyama, a solid-state chemist and Abe, a catalytic chemist - have been on a quest to develop new compounds that can absorb visible light for photocatalysis. They were studying a chlorine-containing (Sb4O5Cl2) compound and trying to replace the chlorine atom with iodine. "However, a new material that was completely different from what we expected was o ...