A new zincoborophosphate templated by diethylenetriamine (DETA): synthesis and characterizations of (C4N3H16)-[Zn3B3P6O24].H2O

The title zincoborophosphate was synthesized hydrothermally from a mixture of ZnO, B2O3, H3PO4 and the structure-directing amine, DETA. Its crystal structure contains helices made up of corner-sharing BO4 and PO4 tetrahedra, which interconnected with ZnO4 tetrahedra to form a three dimensional structure with the CZP topology. The amine and water molecules occupy the free thread of the helices and the center of the channels, respectively. Thermal stability investigations show that this new compound can be dehydrated at 423 K and the product is stable up to 723 K. Furthermore, the as-synthesized title compound and its dehydration product are luminescent, each with a similar broad band between 350 and 550 nm, but the emission of the latter is about three times more intense than that of the former.