Richard I. Walton

Subcritical solvothermal synthesis of condensed inorganic materials

The solvothermal method has recently been extended from zeolite synthesis to the formation of condensed inorganic solids, which find uses in diverse areas due to properties such as ionic-conductivity, solid-state magnetism, giant magnetoresistance, low thermal expansion and ferroelectricity. This offers specific advantages over the traditional ceramic synthetic routes to inorganic solids and these are highlighted with examples from the recent literature, and the efforts focussed on determining the formation mechanism of solids from the heterogeneous mixtures used in solvothermal procedures are discussed.

Effect of the nature of the metal on the breathing steps in MOFs with dynamic frameworks

The thermal behaviour of the nanoporous iron(iii) terephthalate MIL-53 is in stark contrast to its chromium and aluminium analogues which show an expansion of the cell during dehydration; with iron, reversible dehydration occurs via evolution of the structure through a highly distorted metastable anhydrous phase to a more regular phase above 423 K in which pore volume remains approximately constant.

A time-resolved diffraction study of a window of stability in the synthesis of a copper carboxylate metal–organic framework

An in situ, time-resolved energy dispersive powder X-ray diffraction study of the solvothermal crystallisation of the copper(II) 4,4′,4″-benzene-1,3,5-triyl-tris(benzoate) metal–organic framework MOF-14 shows how reaction conditions must be carefully chosen to allow successful preparation of the material, since on prolonged heating at ≥120 °C the material irreversibly collapses into Cu2O under solvothermal conditions in less than 2 hours. This situation is in contrast to the related Cu(II)-containing metal–organic framework HKUST-1, which shows solvothermal stability over similar temperatures and reaction times. The kinetics of crystallisation of both MOFs are examined using a mathematical model proposed by Gualtieri for zeolite crystallisation: this allows separation of the nucleation and growth regimes to yield two rate constants. Arrhenius analysis gives activation energies that reveal in both cases the crystallisations are nucleation controlled. For MOF-14 we can additionally simulate its decomposition as dissolution of the first-formed interpenetrating structure: this produces a complete picture of the solvothermal stability of MOF-14 as nucleation-growth crystallisation, with some evidence of secondary nucleation, followed by dissolution.

Structures of Uncharacterised Polymorphs of Gallium Oxide from Total Neutron Diffraction

A structural investigation is reported of polymorphs of Ga(2)O(3) that, despite much interest in their properties, have hitherto remained uncharacterised due to structural disorder. The most crystalline sample yet reported of γ-Ga(2)O(3) was prepared by solvothermal oxidation of gallium metal in ethanolamine. Structure refinement using the Rietveld method reveals γ-Ga(2)O(3) has a defect Fd3m spinel structure, while pair distribution function analysis shows that the short-range structure is better modelled with local F43m symmetry. In further solvothermal oxidation reactions a novel gallium oxyhydroxide, Ga(5)O(7)(OH), is formed, the thermal decomposition of which reveals a new, transient gallium oxide polymorph, κ-Ga(2)O(3), before transformation into β-Ga(2)O(3). In contrast, the thermal decomposition of Ga(NO(3))(3)·9H(2)O first forms ε-Ga(2)O(3) and then β-Ga(2)O(3). Examination of in situ thermodiffraction data shows that ε-Ga(2)O(3) is always contaminated with β-Ga(2)O(3) and with this knowledge a model for its structure was deduced and refined--space group P6(3)mc with a ratio of tetrahedral/octahedral gallium of 2.2:1 in close-packed oxide layers. Importantly, thermodiffraction provides no evidence for the existence of the speculated bixbyite structured δ-Ga(2)O(3); at the early stages of thermal decomposition of Ga(NO(3))(3)·9H(2)O the first distinct phase formed is merely small particles of ε-Ga(2)O(3).

A study of the manganites La0.5M0.5MnO3(M = Ca, Sr, Ba) prepared by hydrothermal synthesis

We present results of the first systematic study of the hydrothermal synthesis of the manganites La0.5M0.5MnO3 (M = Ca, Sr, Ba), and a detailed characterisation of the products using a number of experimental methods. All three materials can be produced as phase-pure, polycrystalline powders in one step from solutions of metal salts in aqueous potassium hydroxide solution at temperatures of 240 °C for M = Sr or Ba and 270 °C for M = Ca. Iodometric titration and Mn K-edge X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) combined with elemental analysis for metals confirms the average manganese oxidation state as 3.5 in each of the materials. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the materials are made up of cube-shaped particles 1 µm in dimension for La0.5Ba0.5MnO3, 10 µm on average for La0.5Sr0.5MnO3 and 20 µm for La0.5Ca0.5MnO3. La0.5Ba0.5MnO3 is shown to adopt an A-site ordered perovskite structure (tetragonal, P4/mmm, a = 3.9160(1) A, c = 7.8054(2) A); this is determined using powder neutron diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis and magnetisation measurements. High-resolution powder neutron diffraction data from La0.5Sr0.5MnO3 show that the material adopts a distorted perovskite structure (tetragonal, I4/mcm, a = 5.44778(40) A, c = 7.7353(10) A) similar to that previously reported for materials of the same composition prepared by a solid-state route. Hydrothermal La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 adopts an orthorhombic perovskite structure (Pnma, a = 5.410(1) A, b = 7.604(1) A, c = 5.443(2) A). Finally, we examine poorly ordered precursors of La0.5Ba0.5MnO3, formed prior to the crystallisation of the perovskite, using Mn K-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. This shows that at the earliest stage of the reaction the manganese is found in an oxidation state of 3.5 in edge-shared octahedral sites, consistent with the formation of a K0.5MnO2·nH2O, birnessite-like phase before the formation of the perovskite.

Phonon Raman scattering of RCrO_{3} perovskites (R=Y, La, Pr, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Yb, Lu)

We report a systematic investigation of orthorhombic perovskite-type RCrO3 powder samples by Raman scattering for nine different rare earth R3+ cations (R = Y, La, Pr, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Yb, and Lu). The room-temperature Raman spectra and the associated phonon mode assignment provide reference data for structural investigation of the whole series of RCrO3 orthochromites and phonon ab-initio calculations. The assignment of the chromite spectra and comparison with Raman data on other orthorhombic perovskites allows correlating the phonon modes with the structural distortions in the RCrO3 series. In particular, two Ag modes are identified as octahedra rotation soft modes, as their positions scale linearly with the octahedra tilt angle of the CrO6 octahedra.

Instant MOFs: continuous synthesis of metal-organic frameworks by rapid solvent mixing.

A continuous flow reactor allows the preparation of porous metal-organic framework materials with crystallisation induced by rapid mixing of streams of preheated water and solutions of reagents in organic solvent: this gives high volume production (132 g h(-1)) with crystallite size of the products from nanoscale to micron.

Natrolite: A zeolite with negative Poisson’s ratios

The recently published experimental elastic constants [C. Sanchez-Valle, S. V. Sinogeikin, Z. A. Lethbridge, R. I. Walton, C. W. Smith, K. E. Evans, and J. D. Bass, J. Appl. Phys. 98, 053508 (2005)] for single crystals of the orthorhombic aluminosilicate zeolite NAT (natrolite, Na2(Al2Si3O10)2H2O, Fdd2) throw valuable light on the potential of NAT as a material which exhibits single crystalline negative Poisson’s ratios (auxetic). On performing an off-axis analysis of these elastic constants we confirm that the zeolite natrolite exhibits auxetic behavior in the (001) plane. This supports our preliminary report that NAT-type zeolites exhibit auxetic behavior through a mechanism involving microscopic rotation of semi-rigid structural units.

23Na multiple-quantum MAS NMR of the perovskites NaNbO3 and NaTaO3

The distorted perovskites NaTaO3 and NaNbO3 have been studied using 23Na multiple-quantum (MQ) MAS NMR. NaTaO3 was prepared by high temperature solid state synthesis and the NMR spectra are consistent with the expected room temperature structure of the material (space group Pbnm), with a single crystallographic sodium site. Two samples of NaNbO3 were studied. The first, a commercially available sample which was annealed at 900 °C, showed two crystallographic sodium sites, as expected for the room temperature structure of the material (space group Pbcm). The second sample, prepared by a low temperature hydrothermal method, showed the presence of four sodium sites, two of which match the expected room temperature structure and the second pair, another polymorph of the material (space group P21ma). This is consistent with powder X-ray diffraction data which showed weak extra peaks which can be accounted for by the presence of this second polymorph. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations support our conclusions, and aid assignment of the NMR spectra. Finally, we discuss the measured NMR parameters in relation to other studies of sodium in high coordination sites in the solid state.

Brillouin scattering study on the single-crystal elastic properties of natrolite and analcime zeolites

The Brillouin light-scattering technique was used to investigate the single-crystal elastic properties of two aluminosilicate zeolites, natrolite (NAT) and analcime (ANA), at ambient conditions. An inversion of the acoustic velocity data results in the full set of elastic stiffness moduli (Cij’s) for both materials. From the single-crystal moduli the aggregate adiabatic bulk moduli (Ks), shear moduli (G), and Poisson’s ratios (ν) were found to be Ks=48.5(1.0)GPa, G=31.6(1.0)GPa, and ν=0.232(5) for NAT, and Ks=59.8(1.2)GPa, G=32.1(1.0)GPa, and ν=0.272(5) for ANA (Voigt-Reuss-Hill averages). The bulk and shear moduli of both zeolites are relatively low compared with those of densely packed aluminosilicates, reflecting an open framework structure of (Al,SiO4) tetrahedra which is easily deformed by bending the Si–O–Al angles. As expected for a less dense crystal, NAT is softer and more compressible than ANA. An evaluation of the directional Young’s moduli shows that the compressibility of NAT is nearly unifor...