Refinement of the crystal structure of Bi-II, at 2.54 GPa

From a volatile molecular precursor to twin-free single crystals of bismuth

A highly volatile molecular precursor, dibismuth(ii) (tetra)trifluoroacetate, was successfully utilized for the gas phase growth of twin-free single crystals of bismuth. This allowed high-quality single-crystal X-ray diffraction data to be collected, providing accurate structural parameters for elemental bismuth under ambient conditions.