Synthesis, Crystal Structure, Spectrum Properties, and Electronic Structure of a New Barium Aluminoborate, Ba8O41]∞. -The title compound is synthesized by solid state reaction of a 3:3:5 mixture of BaCO3, Al(OH)3, and H3BO3 in the presence of Bi2O3 as a fluxing agent (Au crucible, 770°C, 4 weeks). The compound is characterized by single crystal XRD, IR and optical diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and DFT electronic structure calculations. Ba8[Al10B12O41] crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1 with Z = 1 and exhibits a layered structure consisting of H-shaped Al6 groups, AlO4 tetrahedra, and AlO5 trigonal bipyramids bridged by BO3 triangles. Ba 2+ cations are located in the interlayer spaces and intralayer channels. The compound is a direct band gap material with a band gap of about 3.10 eV and exhibits a broad emission band at around 430 nm. -(CHEN*, X.; CHU, Z.; CHANG, X.; ZANG, H.; XIAO, W.; J. Alloys Compd. 511 (2012) 1, 74-80, http://dx.