Cr23C6 crystal structure

The Cr23C6 structure represented as polyhedra of atoms. The blue surfaces outline cuboctahedra of chromium atoms, whereas the red surfaces outline chromium cubes capped by carbon atoms. The darker blue spheres represent chromium atoms outside of the polyhedra.

Cr23C6 is the prototypical compound of a common crystal structure, discovered in 1933[1] as part of the chromium-carbon binary phase diagram. Over 85 known compounds adopt this structure type,[2] which can be described as a NaCl-like packing of chromium cubes and cuboctahedra.[3]

  1. ^ Westgren, A. Crystal structure and composition of cubic chromium carbide. Jernkontorets Ann. 1933, 117, 501.
  2. ^ Villars, P. Pearson's Handbook of Crystallographic Data for Intermetallic Phases, vol. 1; ASM International: Materials Park, 1997.
  3. ^ Bowman, A. L.; Arnold, G. P.; Storms, E. K.; Nereson, N. G. (1972-10-15). "The crystal structure of Cr23C6". Acta Crystallographica Section B: Structural Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry. 28 (10). International Union of Crystallography (IUCr): 3102–3103. doi:10.1107/s0567740872007526. ISSN 0567-7408.