BO3

BO3 is a metastable, metallic boron oxide phase that exhibits significant structural diversity despite its thermodynamic instability.

BO
Crystal structure of BO3
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About BO3

BO3 is a metallic boron oxide compound that occupies a unique position in the boron-oxygen phase space. Its electronic character stands out as metallic, distinguishing it from the typical insulating nature of most common boron oxides. Given its position above the thermodynamic hull, it is considered a metastable phase that requires specific synthesis conditions to be realized.

Despite its instability, the compound is characterized by significant structural complexity, with dozens of reported configurations across various databases. This structural richness makes it a subject of interest for theoretical studies exploring the limits of boron-oxygen bonding and the potential for metallic behavior in light-element oxides.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for BO3, aggregated across 4 databases.

Band Gap

Metallic / not reported

Energy Above Hull

0.834 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

Above hull
2 DFT sources

Structures

37
4 databases, 12 space groups
Validation

Cross-Source DFT Agreement

How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of BO3. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.

Agreement Score

1.00 / 1.00
Trust tier: medium

Hull Spread

0.000 eV
EAH spread across sources

Sources Compared

2
jarvis, materials_project

Space Group Consensus

All match
Synthesis

Synthesis Routes

Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting BO3.

Sol Gel
Procedure available · ceder_sol_gel
Sol Gel
Procedure available · ceder_sol_gel
Sol Gel
Procedure available · ceder_sol_gel
Sol Gel
Procedure available · ceder_sol_gel
Sol Gel
Procedure available · ceder_sol_gel
Sol Gel
Procedure available · ceder_sol_gel
Intellectual Property

Patent Landscape

1 patent reference BO3 or close compositional variants.

PatentTitleAssigneeGranted
10005675Li4Sr(BO3)2 compound, Li4Sr(BO3)2 nonlinear optical crystal, preparation method and use thereof
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about BO3, answered from cross-validated data.

What is BO3?

BO3 is a metastable, metallic boron oxide phase that exhibits significant structural diversity despite its thermodynamic instability.

More questions
What is the band gap of BO3?
BO3 is computed to be metallic (no band gap) in the reported DFT structures.
Is BO3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Computed band structures report no gap, so it is metallic.
Is BO3 thermodynamically stable?
BO3 has a lowest energy above hull of 0.834 eV/atom (above hull).
How many polymorphs of BO3 are known?
37 structures of BO3 are reported across 4 databases, spanning 12 distinct space groups.
How is BO3 synthesized?
Literature-reported routes for BO3 include sol gel (10 procedures documented).
What elements does BO3 contain?
BO3 contains B and O (2 elements).
Where does the data for BO3 come from?
BO3 data is cross-referenced from latticegraph.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a metallic boron oxide, BO3 represents an unconventional member of the boron-oxygen system. While most binary compounds in this class are stable, wide-gap insulators, this material is notable for its metallic electronic signature and metastable nature, highlighting the diverse bonding environments accessible to boron when coordinated with oxygen.

Data sources & attribution
  • latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform

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