Single Crystal Structure Refinement The single crystal data collection parameters and results of the final model are summarized in Table S1. The shortest interatomic distances are tabulated in Table S2. The thermal displacement ellipsoids are shown in Figure S1. The anisotropic displacement factor exponent takes the form:-2π 2 [ h 2 a* 2 U 11 + ... + 2 h k a* b* U 12 ]. The synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data of Zn 4 Sb 3 compared to the Rietveld solution is given in Figure S2.

Engineering of materials with specific physical properties has recently focused on the effect of nano-sized 'guest domains' in a 'host matrix' that enable tuning of electrical, mechanical, photo-optical or thermal properties. A low thermal conductivity is a prerequisite for obtaining effective thermoelectric materials, and the challenge is to limit the conduction of heat by phonons, without simultaneously reducing the charge transport. This is named the 'phonon glass-electron crystal' concept and may be realized in host-guest systems. The guest entities are believed to have independent oscillations, so-called rattler modes, which scatter the acoustic phonons and reduce the thermal conductivity. We have investigated the phonon dispersion relation in the phonon glass-electron crystal material Ba(8)Ga(16)Ge(30) using neutron triple-axis spectroscopy. The results disclose unambiguously the theoretically predicted avoided crossing of the rattler modes and the acoustic-phonon branches. The observed phonon lifetimes are longer than expected, and a new explanation for the low kappa(L) is provided.

Thermoelectric clathrates hold significant promise for high temperature applications with zT values exceeding 1.3. The inorganic clathrates have been shown to be both chemically and thermally stable at high temperatures, and high performance can be obtained from both single crystals and processed powders. The clathrates also show excellent compatibility factors in segmented module applications. For a materials chemist it is furthermore of great importance that the clathrates exhibit a very rich chemistry with the ability for substitution of many different elements. This allows delicate tuning of both the crystal structure as well as the physical properties. With all these assets, it is not surprising that clathrates have been intensely investigated in the thermoelectric community during the past decade. The present perspective provides a review of the many studies concerned with the synthesis, crystal structure and thermoelectric properties of clathrates with emphasis on the type I clathrate.

Multi-temperature X-ray diffraction studies show that twisting, rotation, and libration cause negative thermal expansion (NTE) of the nanoporous metal−organic framework MOF-5, Zn4O(1,4-benzenedicarboxylate)3. The near-linear lattice contraction is quantified in the temperature range 80−500 K using synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction. Vibrational motions causing the abnormal expansion behavior are evidenced by shortening of certain interatomic distances with increasing temperature according to single-crystal X-ray diffraction on a guest-free crystal over a broad temperature range. Detailed analysis of the atomic positional and displacement parameters suggests two contributions to cause the effect: (1) local twisting and vibrational motion of the carboxylate groups and (2) concerted transverse vibration of the linear linkers. The vibrational mechanism is confirmed by calculations of the dynamics in a molecular fragment of the framework.