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Archive:Gamma boron discovery controversy

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The gamma boron discovery controversy relates to a dispute as to which group of scientists discovered the gamma-phase of elemental boron.

The first report of this phase was probably made by Wentorf in 1965.[1], see [2]

However, in the 1965 paper the chemical composition was not determined (and hence the possibility of chemical contamination was not ruled out)[1] and no structural solution was given. In spite of the indirect evidence given by Wentorf, the common opinion ([3],[4], and also the fact that Wentorf's date were deleted from Powder Diffraction Files database} was that he synthesized some boron compound and/or a mixture of phases (the latter seems to be correct - it appears he dealt with a mixture of phases containing gamma-B).[citation needed] For these reasons Wentorf's paper had attracted little attention and citation (only 6 citations in 44 years - see Web of Knowledge database at: http://www.isiknowledge.com), and most likely for the same reasons Wentorf's data were deleted from the Powder Diffraction File database (database available from http://www.icdd.com/).[citation needed]

J. Chen and V. L. Solozhenko, who independently synthesized the gamma phase in 2004, proved that they were dealing with a pure boron phase. The structure was solved by X-ray powder diffraction and ab initio crystal structure prediction calculations by A. R. Oganov in 2006.[5] Oganov, Chen, and Solozhenko published their findings jointly in Nature in January 2009.[5] At the same time, another group consisting of Dubrovinsky, Dubrovinskaia, and Filinchuk published a paper [2] claiming novelty.[citation needed] They confirmed Oganov's structure using powder diffraction [2] and single crystal X-ray diffraction.[6] Oganov and his colleagues maintain that Filinchuk (at that time Oganov's friend) received a copy of Oganov's manuscript on 9 December 2006, but Dubrovinsky, Dubriovinskaia and Filinchuk refused to acknowledge this fact.[7]Template:Verify credibility Oganov and colleagues made at least 8 presentations of their findings at conferences, including the high-profile IUCr meeting (attended also by Dubrovinsky, Dubrovinskaia, and Filinchuk), see their abstract from August 2008 [8], also uncited by Dubrovinsky, Dubrovinskaia, and Filinchuk.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wentorf R. H. Jr. (1965). "Boron: Another Form". Science 147: 49–50. doi:10.1126/science.147.3653.49. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Zarechnaya E.Yu., Dubrovinsky L., Dubrovinskaia N., Miyajima N., Filinchuk Y.,Chernyshov D.,Dmitriev V. (2008). "Synthesis of an orthorhombic high pressure boron phase.". Science and Technology of Advanced Materials 9. doi:10.1088/1468-6996/9/4/044209. http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1468-6996/9/4/044209/stam8_4_044209.pdf.  Submitted 3 November 2008, Published online 28 January 2009.
  3. ↑ Amberger, E., Ploog, K. Bildung der Gitter des Reinen Bors. J. Less-Common Metals 23, 21-31 (1971).
  4. ↑ Douglas, B.E., Ho, S.-M., Structure and Chemistry of Crystalline Solids (Springer, N.Y., 2006)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Oganov A.R., Chen J., Gatti C., Ma Y.-M., Yu T., Liu Z., Glass C.W., Ma Y.-Z., Kurakevych O.O., Solozhenko V.L. (2009). "Ionic high-pressure form of elemental boron". Nature 457: 863–867. doi:10.1038/nature07736.  Submitted 27 January 2007, Published online 28 January 2009.
  6. ↑ E. Yu. Zarechnaya (2009). "Superhard Semiconducting Optically Transparent High Pressure Phase of Boron". Phys. Rev. Lett. 102: 185501. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.185501. 
  7. ↑ "The Filinchuk correspondence", A.R. Oganov, V.L. Solozhenko, C. Gatti, J. Chen, O.O. Kurakevych. Retrieved 9 May, 2009
  8. ↑ C. Gatti, A. R. Oganov, J. Chen and Y. Ma. (2008). How and why elemental boron undergoes self charge transfer between 19 and 89 GPa. Acta Cryst. A64, C70 (August 2008). http://journals.iucr.org/a/issues/2008/a1/00/issconts.html