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MATERIALS · SOLID-STATE CHEMISTRY · 12 October 2026 · 7 min read

A fleeting cubic form of bismuth vanadate

Heating well-defined vanadium, bismuth and zinc molecules produces a previously unknown, less dense crystal of BiVO4, and a black amorphous vanadium oxide whose local arrangement resembles reduced oxides even though almost all of the vanadium stays in the +5 oxidation state. The brief stages between a molecule and a finished oxide can be real materials.