High-Density Electron Anions in a Nanoporous Single Crystal: [Ca24Al28O64]4+(4e-)

We removed ∼100% of clathrated oxygen ions from the crystallographic cages in a single crystal of 12CaO·7Al2O3, leading to the formation of high-density (∼2 × 1021 cm–3) electrons highly localized in the cages. The resulting electron forms a structure that we interpret as an F+ center and migrates throughout the crystal by hopping to a neighboring cage with conductivity ∼100 siemens per centimeter, demonstrating that the encaged electron behaves as an anion. The electron anions couple antiferromagnetically with each other, forming a diamagnetic pair or singlet bipolaron. The resulting [Ca24Al28O64]4+(4e–) may be regarded as a thermally and chemically stable single crystalline “electride.”