Errymath: tri-anion

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<img alt="Featured photo" height="428" id="ctl00_cphMainContent_imgArticleImage" src="http://www.news.vcu.edu/image/11488/620" width="640" /> 
A rendering of protons, neutrons and electrons in an atom. 
 
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have achieved a feat 
that is a first in the fields of physics and chemistry — one that could 
have wide-ranging applications. 
 
A team in the lab of Puru Jena, Ph.D., a distinguished professor in the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://physics.vcu.edu/&source=gmail&ust=1505828160322000&usg=AFQjCNH4BlHpVU3jeMUsKzyyOkApKfABCQ" href="https://physics.vcu.edu/">Department of Physics</a> in the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://has.vcu.edu/&source=gmail&ust=1505828160322000&usg=AFQjCNGgh6yfHnUiEEg3F7804sC9tdEiBw" href="http://has.vcu.edu/">College of Humanities and Sciences</a>,
 has created the most stable tri-anion particle currently known to 
science. A tri-anion particle is a combination of atoms that contains 
three more electrons than protons. This discovery is novel because 
previously known tri-anion particles were unstable due to their 
numerical imbalance. These unstable particles dispel additional 
electrons, interrupting chemical reactions. 
 
Jena partnered with Tianshan Zhao, a graduate student in the physics 
department; Jian Zhou, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow; and Qian Wang, 
Ph.D., a physics professor at Peking University, to use quantum 
mechanical calculations to create computer models to prove the stability
 of the BeB11(CN)12 tri-anion. This tri-anion is made of the elements boron and beryllium and the chemical compound cyanogen. 
 
The researchers’ work will be featured on the cover of Angewandte Chemie, a world-renowned chemistry journal, on Oct. 17. The <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201708386/full&source=gmail&ust=1505828160322000&usg=AFQjCNE-JkYWeNg-OiwCSd1fME2n8Zsidw" href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201708386/full">team’s article</a> was
 designated a VIP paper by the publication, which means it is considered
 among the top five percent of papers for its contribution to the study 
of chemistry. 
 
“This is very important in this field, nobody has ever found such a 
tri-anion,” Jena said. “Not only can it keep three electrons but the 
third electron is extremely stable. The guiding principles we have used 
in this paper will help with the design of other tri-anions. The 
question is: What do we do with this knowledge?” 
 
 
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<img alt="Puru Jena, Ph.D." height="212" src="http://www.news.vcu.edu/image/11489/540" width="320" />
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<figcaption>Puru Jena, Ph.D.
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<a href="http://www.news.vcu.edu/article/VCU_physicists_discover_a_trianion_particle_with_colossal_stability" target="_blank">Real world applications</a> 
 
The tri-anion may have a number of industrial 
applications. So far, Jena and his team have hypothesized that the 
particle may be used in the creation of an aluminum ion battery, which 
has distinct advantages over the widely used rechargeable lithium ion 
battery. Aluminum is in greater supply than lithium and is less 
reactive. 
 
During the chemical reaction that would power the battery, the
 tri-anion would make the battery conductive by moving from one of its 
electrodes to the other. 
While a battery is the only demonstrated use so far, existing 
applications for other particles with one additional electron, called 
mono-anions, and two additional electrons, called di-anions, show the 
potential of Jena’s work. 
 
“Such particles are very important for many reasons. Number one, they
 make salts. Secondly, they are used in all kinds of chemical compounds,
 such as those in floor cleaners as oxidizing agents that kill 
bacteria,” Jena said. “They are also used to purify air, which is a 
billion-dollar industry, and in mood enhancers, similar to what Prozac 
does. The potential uses are endless.” 
 
 
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<a href="http://www.news.vcu.edu/article/VCU_physicists_discover_a_trianion_particle_with_colossal_stability" target="_blank">Physicists Just Cracked The Problem of Stabilising a Totally New Kind of Particle</a></div>
 
 
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VCU physicists discover a tri-anion particle with colossal stability

A rendering of protons, neutrons and electrons in an atom. Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have achieved a feat that is a ...

Errymath

VCU physicists discover a tri-anion particle with colossal stability

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