Molecular orbitals (MOs), while one of the most widely used representations of the electronic structure of a system, are often too complex to intuit properties. Aside from the simplest of cases, it is not necessarily possible to visually tell which orbitals are bonding or antibonding along particular directions, especially in cases of highly delocalized and nontrivial bonding like metal clusters or solids. We propose a method for easily assessing and comparing the relative bonding contributions of MOs, by calculating their response to stress (e.g., compression). We find that this approach accurately describes relative bonding or antibonding character in both the simplest cases and provides new insight in more complex cases. We test the approach on four systems: H2, Am2, benzene, and the Pt4 cluster. In exploring this methodology, a scheme became elucidated, for predicting changes in the ground electronic configuration upon compression, including changes in bonding order, angular momenta of occupied MOs, and trends in MO ordering. We note that the applications of this work go beyond simple molecules and could be straightforwardly extended to, for example, solids and their response to stress along the specific crystallographic plane. Additionally, predictions of structures and properties of chemical systems under stress could result from the emerging intuition about changes in the electronic structure.

Lanthanide hexaborides (LnB₆ ) have disparate and often anomalous properties, from structurally homogeneous mixed valency, to superconductivity, spectral anomalies, and unexplained phase transitions. It is unclear how such a diversity of properties may arise in the solids of identical crystal structures and seemingly very similar electronic structures. Building on our previous model for SmB₆ (mixed valent, with a peak in specific heat, and pressure induced magnetic phase transitions), we present a unifying dynamic bonding model for LnB₆ that explains simultaneously EuB₆ (possessing an anomalous peak in specific heat at low T, magnetic phase transitions, and no mixed valency), YbB₆ (mixed valent topological insulator), and rather ordinary LaB₆ . We show that Ln can engage in covalent bonding with boron, and, in some members of the LnB₆ family, also easily access alternative bonding states through the electron-phonon coupling. The accessibility, relative energetics, and bonding nature of the states involved dictate the properties.

While boride clusters of alkali and transition metals have been observed and extensively characterized, so far little is known about lanthanide-boron clusters. Lanthanide-boride solids are intriguing, however, and therefore it is of interest to understand the fundamental electronic properties of such systems, also on the subnano scale. We report a joint experimental photoelectron spectroscopic and theoretical study of the SmB₆^- anion, iso-stoichiometric to the SmB₆ solid-a topological Kondo insulator. The cluster is found to feature strong static and dynamic electron correlations and relativistic components, calling for treatment with CASPT2 and up sixth-order Douglass-Kroll-Hess (DKH) relativistic correction. The cluster has a C_2v structure and covalent Sm-B bonds facilitated by f atomic orbitals on Sm, which are typically thought to be contracted and inert. Additionally, the cluster retains the double antiaromaticity of the B₆^2- cluster.

Anion photoelectron spectroscopic and theoretical studies were conducted for the PdH(-) and PdH3 (-) cluster anions. Experimentally observed electron affinities and vertical detachment energies agree well with theoretical predictions. The PdH3 (-) anionic complex is made up of a PdH(-) sub-anion ligated by a H2 molecule, in which the H-H bond is lengthened compared to free H2. Detailed molecular orbital analysis of PdH(-), H2, and PdH3 (-) reveals that back donation from a d-type orbital of PdH(-) to the σ* orbital of H2 causes the H-H elongation, and hence, its activation. The H2 binding energy to PdH(-) is calculated to be 89.2 kJ/mol, which is even higher than that between CO and Pd. The unusually high binding energy as well as the H-H bond activation may have practical applications, e.g., hydrogen storage and catalysis.

Samarium hexaboride is an anomaly, having many exotic and seemingly mutually incompatible properties. It was proposed to be a mixed-valent semiconductor, and later a topological Kondo insulator, and yet has a Fermi surface despite being an insulator. We propose a new and unified understanding of SmB6 centered on the hitherto unrecognized dynamical bonding effect: the coexistence of two Sm-B bonding modes within SmB6 , corresponding to different oxidation states of the Sm. The mixed valency arises in SmB6 from thermal population of these distinct minima enabled by motion of B. Our model simultaneously explains the thermal valence fluctuations, appearance of magnetic Fermi surface, excess entropy at low temperatures, pressure-induced phase transitions, and related features in Raman spectra and their unexpected dependence on temperature and boron isotope.

In this work, we investigate the high-pressure behavior of the stabilized high-temperature (HT) orthorhombic phase of WB using radial X-ray diffraction in a diamond-anvil cell at room temperature. The experiments were performed under nonhydrostatic compression up to 52 GPa. For comparison, the low-temperature (LT) tetragonal phase of WB was also compressed nonhydrostatically to 36 GPa to explore structurally induced changes to its mechanical properties. Although our microindentation hardness tests indicate that the HT WB possesses slightly higher hardness, synchrotron-based high-pressure compression data yield significant distinct incompressibilities. The ambient pressure bulk modulus of the HT phase of WB is 341 ± 5 GPa obtained by using the second-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state, while for the LT phase of WB the incompressibility increased to 381 ± 3 GPa. The elastically supported differential stress was measured in a lattice-specific manner and analyzed by using lattice strain theory. Greater strength anisotropy was observed in the HT WB phase, compared to the LT materials. DFT energy shift calculations indicate that W-B bonds rather than B-B bonds are responsible for the lattice-dependent mechanical properties.

Alloys of tungsten tetraboride (WB4) with the addition of C and Si were prepared by arc-melting of the constituent elements. The phase purity was established by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and surface morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. Vickers hardness measurements showed hardness enhancement for alloys with a nominal composition of (W0.98Si0.02):11.6B and (W0.95C0.05):11.6B of 52.2 ± 3.0 and 50.5 ± 2.5 GPa, respectively, compared to 41.2 ± 1.4 GPa for pure WB4. (W0.92Zr0.08):11.6B was determined in previous work to have a hardness of 55.9 ± 2.8 GPa. Bulk moduli were calculated following analysis of high-pressure radial diffraction data and were determined to be 329 ± 4 (K0′ = 2) and 390 ± 9 (K0′ = 0.6) GPa for 8 atom % Zr and 5 atom % C-doping, respectively, compared to 326-339 GPa for pure WB4. Computational analysis was used to determine the dopant positions in the crystal structure, and it was found that Zr primarily substitutes W in the 2c position, Si substitutes for the entire B3 trimers, and C inserts in the Bhex-layer. The hardness enhancement in the case of Zr-doping is attributed primarily to extrinsic hardness effects (nanograin morphology), in the case of C─to intrinsic effects (interlayer bond strengthening), and in the intermediate case of Si─to both intrinsic and extrinsic effects (bond strengthening and fine surface morphology).