Na_2.8Cu₅Sn_5.6: A Crystalline Alloy Featuring Intermetalloid ${{}_\infty ^{\bf{1}} \left\{ {{\bf{Sn}}_{{\bf{0}}{\bf{.6}}} {\bf{@Cu}}_{\bf{5}} {\bf{@Sn}}_{\bf{5}} } \right\}}$ Double‐Walled Nanorods with Pseudo‐Five‐Fold Symmetry

Abstract

Not quasi-crystalline: approximate five-fold symmetry appears in bronze-type Cu-Sn rods that are separated by Na atoms in Na(2.8)Cu(5)Sn(5.6). The rods are compared to the [Sn@Cu(12)@Sn(20)](12-) cluster in the recently characterized A(12)Cu(12)Sn(21) phases (A=Na-Cs), and a saltlike description in analogy to Zintl phases of p-block metals is introduced for these new polar intermetallic phases with a high d-block metal content.