A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | O C T O B E R 2 0 2 2 9 on the new alloy system are easier to manufacture and have a higher lifetime than the conventional magnetic materials. The concept of using these alloys is not limited to SMMs but is also applicable for developing advanced alloys with new and unusual combinations of functional andmechanical properties. www. mpie.de/2281/en, www.tu-darmstadt.de/ index.en.jsp, en.csu.edu.cn. ISOLATING RARE-EARTH METALS A research team at the University of Tokyo and the Institute for Molecular Science, Japan, developed a method to isolate the hydrated forms of trivalent ions in a series of rare-earth metals in closed cages. Each cage molecule consists of four organic ligands shaped like triangular plates that are connected by their tips to six palladium ions to make an octahedral cage with two large openings. The rare-earth-metal ion fits into the cage with its nine bound water molecules. The critical feature of the cage are its two caps that cover the openings. These are planar molecules with three negatively charged binding arms that bind to the rare-earth-metal ion’s water molecules through hydrogen bridges. In addition, they are held tight by electrostatic interactions with the positively charged palladium ions in the cage. Not all rare-earth-metal ions are captured equally well by this system. Subtle differences in their radii and preferred modes of hydration determine howwell they fit into the cages. Confinement of hydrophilic metal species in a closed cavity could be an approach for the isolation of rare-earth metals as well as for the development of novel catalysts analogous to metal-containing Graphical depiction of the encapsulation of a hydrated rare-earth-metal ion in a hydrophobic cavity of a synthetic cage. Courtesy of Wiley. enzymes in microorganisms. www.u- tokyo.ac.jp/en/, www.ims.ac.jp/en.
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