An unusual density evolution between SrCdB2O5 polymorphs.

Owing to the effect of atomic vibrations, a high-temperature phase usually features a relatively smaller density when compared with a low-temperature phase. In this work, a new SrCdB2O5 phase has been discovered. According to the crystallization temperature from low to high, the new SrCdB2O5 phase can be regarded as the high-temperature β-SrCdB2O5 phase. The density of β-SrCdB2O5 is obviously larger than that of α-SrCdB2O5, meanwhile β-SrCdB2O5 is energetically favored. This unusual density evolution phenomenon has been investigated. In addition, the Pb(2+)-doped compounds, PbxSr1-xCdB2O5 (x = 0.125, 0.25, 0.375, 0.5), have also been investigated by powder refinement.