CrystEngComm Blog

3D POM-silver complexes

Wendy Mak, Development Editor — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:49:49 +0000

Polyoxometalates (POMs) have been widely used as the inorganic component in metal-organic frameworks to construct structures with complex topologies for a variety of functions. These structures tend to be constructed from metal ions and N-containing ligands. Flexible N-donor ligands, such as the bis(triazole) ligands with different spacers of –(CH₂)_n– (where n = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), offers even more advantages over their rigid counterparts as the flexibility enables them to form more complex structures.

In this paper, the authors synthesised four compounds based on the PW₁₂O₄₀^3-–Ag^I–bis(triazole) system to investigate how the different spacer lengths in the bis(triazole) ligands, and the reaction conditions such as pH and crystallisation time, has on the final topology of the structure. They also studied the electrochemical and photocatalytic properties of these structures, and obtained some very promising results.

The following are some of the fascinating structures that they made.

Find out more about them, and their synthetic methods, from the paper now:

A series of 3D PW₁₂O₄₀^3--based AgI–bis(triazole) complexes containing different multinuclear loops: syntheses, structures and properties
Xiuli Wang, Dan Zhao, Aixiang Tian and Jun Ying
CrystEngComm, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CE40375K, Paper

Wendy is the Development Editor of CrystEngComm. She started working for the RSC in March 2013, after completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge.

Improving lithium-ion batteries with lithium microspheres

Wendy Mak, Development Editor — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:05:18 +0000

Lithium ion batteries are widely used as portable sources of electric energy, from powering gadgets to cars. As such, there has been great interest in improving their performance, and one of the most promising routes is to use LiMPO₄ (where M is either Mn or Fe) hierarchical structures in the battery electrodes. Nevertheless, a synthetic method that is both low cost and do not require harsh chemicals is still necessary for these structures to be used more widely in lithium ion batteries.

In this paper, the authors presented a method of synthesising LiMPO₄microspheres via a solvothermal process in a solution of glycerol, citric acid and water. These microspheres had a 3D hierarchical structure, in which the larger spheres are either composed of nanoparticles(LiFePO₄) or nanorods (LiMnPO₄). They investigated the effects of changing the concentrations of the starting materials have on the morphology of the overall structure, and the growth mechanisms of the crystals. They also used the LiMPO4 microstructures as the cathode in a lithium ion battery set-up to measure their electrochemical properties.

The authors found that the microspheres had high reversible specific capacity and cycling performance, making them ideal candidates for use in batteries. This work opens up a cheap and safe route to manufacturing high performing lithium-ion batteries.

Read their article now to find out more:

Synthesis of 3D-hiearchical LiMPO₄ (M = Fe, Mn) microstructures as cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries
Yuanxiang Gu, Weiming Liu, Lei Wang, Guicun Li and Yu Yang
CrystEngComm, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CE00072A, Paper

Be part of the CrystEngComm blogging team

Wendy Mak, Development Editor — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:00:57 +0000

Interested in science writing? Fancy seeing your work featured on the CrystEngComm blog?

We are currently looking for a web writer for our blog. The writer will cover the latest research published in the journal, interview leading researchers in the field and will keep the community updated with upcoming conferences and events.

If you’re interested and would like to be considered, please contact the CrystEngComm Editorial Office by 15th June. We will ask you to submit a sample writing piece.

This is a great opportunity to gain experience in science journalism. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

New insights into the halogen bond from the Cambridge Structural Database

Wendy Mak, Development Editor — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:21:42 +0000

Supramolecular chemistry studies noncovalent bonding such as intermolecular interactions. One of these, the carbon-halogen bond, has generated much interest due to its applications in crystal engineering and drug design. Many statistical studies of chemical structures found in databases such as the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) have been made in order to gain insight into molecules incorporating this bond.

In this paper, the authors present a new and more accurate method to analyse CSD data for molecules incorporating halogen atoms. This method has a more accurate angular correction, takes into account competitive supramolecular interactions of the halogen atom (e.g. hydrogen bonds), and also allows significant bond directionalities to be found.

Find out more from their paper:

Halogen bonding versus hydrogen bonding: what does the Cambridge Database reveal?
Tiddo J. Mooibroek and Patrick Gamez
CrystEngComm, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CE40285A, Paper

Synthesis and luminescent properties of Yttrium-Vanadium submicrocrystals

Wendy Mak, Development Editor — Tue, 07 May 2013 09:44:41 +0000

YVO₄ microcrystals have generated much interest due to their optical, thermal and mechanical properties, which make them useful in devices such as panel displays and lasers. However, most of the synthetic methods currently used are complex, and the crystals made are not very uniform or disperse.

In this paper, the authors have synthesised monodisperse YVO₄:EU³⁺ submicrocrystals via a simple ethylene glycol assisted hydrothermal method. By fine-tuning the pH of the reaction solution, they were able to obtain various crystal morphologies, such as flower-like, spherical, and octahedral shapes. An investigation into the growth mechanism suggested that the growth happens via a three-step nucleation, oriented aggregation and ripening process.

The luminescent properties of the octahedral and spherical crystals were also carried out. The two forms had similar excitation and emission spectra, with a peak corresponding to red light, although the octahedral crystals had a much stronger intensity than spherical crystals. The simple synthetic method, together with the emission characteristics of these monodisperse crystals make them good candidates for applications in optoelectronic devices.

Find out more from their article:

Monodisperse YVO₄:Eu³⁺ submicrocrystals: controlled synthesis and luminescence properties
Baiqi Shao, Qi Zhao, Ning Guo, Yongchao Jia, Wenzhen Lv, Mengmeng Jiao, Wei Lü and Hongpeng You
CrystEngComm, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CE00074E, Paper

May Crystal Clear: Time to celebrate Spring with crystal champagne

Wendy Mak, Development Editor — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:41:21 +0000

This month’s selection is wine bottled shaped single crystals of CaWO₄. Grown by a team working on the CRESST dark matter detection project, these high-purity scintillating CaWO₄ single crystals are used as detectors for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), which are one of the best candidates for dark matter.

To detect the elusive WIMPs, these crystals have to be of a very high purity and have fairly similar weights (approx. 300g). The high melting temperature (around 1600^oC) of the crystal, as well as the fact that it has to be grown in an atmosphere containing oxygen, provided additional challenges to the growth process.

Starting with very high purity CaCO₃ and WO₃, the team used the Czochralski technique in an industrial furnace to produce these crystals. As the experiment requires the crystals to be transparent to scintillating light, the crystals were oxygenated at high temperatures after growth, which produced very clear crystals. (You can spot which one is the final product in the photo!)

The CRESST team has now adopted this technique to set up an in-house CaWO₄ growing facility. This means the number of detectors that they can build has increased significantly. Watch out for interesting experimental results…

Find out more about the use of CaWO₄ crystals in the dark matter experiment, and learn how to grow your own CaWO₄ wine bottles from the article, which is free to access for 4 weeks.

Growth of high-purity scintillating CaWO₄ single crystals for the low-temperature direct dark matter search experiments CRESST-II and EURECA
Andreas Erb and Jean-Côme Lanfranchi
CrystEngComm, 2013, 15, 2301-2304
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE26554K

The most highly cited articles published in 2012

Wendy Mak, Development Editor — Thu, 02 May 2013 12:39:51 +0000

The following is a selection of the most cited articles published in CrystEngComm in 2012. Read what your peers have been referencing in their work.

A series of 1D, 2D and 3D coordination polymers based on a 5-(benzonic-4-ylmethoxy)isophthalic acid: syntheses, structures and photoluminescence
Ying-Ying Liu, Jing Li, Jian-Fang Ma, Ji-Cheng Ma and Jin Yang
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 169-177
DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05639E

Porous organic molecular materials
Jian Tian, Praveen K. Thallapally and B Peter McGrail
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 1909-1919
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06457J

Coordination polymers, metal–organic frameworks and the need for terminology guidelines
Stuart R. Batten, Neil R. Champness, Xiao-Ming Chen, Javier Garcia-Martinez, Susumu Kitagawa, Lars Öhrström, Michael O’Keeffe, Myunghyun Paik Suh and Jan Reedijk
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 3001-3004
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06488J

The role of mechanochemistry and supramolecular design in the development of pharmaceutical materials
Amit Delori, Tomislav Friščić and William Jones
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 2350-2362
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06582G

Syntheses, crystal structures and photoluminescent properties of two novel Ag(I) coordination polymers with benzoguanamine and pyrazine-carboxylate ligands: From 1D helix to 1D to 2D interdigitation
Di Sun, Hong-Jun Hao, Fu-Jing Liu, Hai-Feng Su, Rong-Bin Huang and Lan-Sun Zheng
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 480-487
DOI: 10.1039/C1CE06089A

Self-assembled porous hierarchical-like CoO@C microsheets transformed from inorganic–organic precursors and their lithium-ion battery application
Jun Liu, Yichun Zhou, Chunping Liu, Jinbin Wang, Yong Pan and Dongfeng Xue
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 2669-2674
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06497A

Axially chiral metal–organic frameworks produced from spontaneous resolution with an achiral pyridyl dicarboxylate ligand
Xin Tan, Jixian Zhan, Jianyong Zhang, Long Jiang, Mei Pan and Cheng-Yong Su
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 63-66
DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05995E

Recent advances in porphyrinic metal–organic frameworks: materials design, synthetic strategies, and emerging applications
Brandon J. Burnett, Paul M. Barron and Wonyoung Choe
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 3839-3846
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06692K

Highly interpenetrated diamondoid nets of Zn(II) and Cd(II) coordination networks from mixed ligands
Jian-Jr Cheng, Ya-Ting Chang, Chia-Jun Wu, Yi-Fen Hsu, Chia-Her Lin, Davide M. Proserpio and Jhy-Der Chen
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 537-543
DOI: 10.1039/C1CE06019H

A series of coordination polymers based on 5-(2-carboxybenzyloxy) isophthalic acid and bis(imidazole) ligands: syntheses, topological structures and photoluminescent properties
Wei-Qiu Kan, Jian-Fang Ma, Ying-Ying Liu and Jin Yang
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 2316-2326
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06176G

A new Associate Editor for CrystEngComm

Wendy Mak, Development Editor — Wed, 01 May 2013 11:00:12 +0000

We bid Professor Hongjie Zhang, who has joined the editorial board of CrystEngComm as an Associate Editor, a very warm welcome. Professor Zhang is based at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, where he is the director of the State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization. His research interests include topics such as the synthesis and characterisation of rare earth compounds and transition metal oxides.

Some of his recent papers in CrystEngComm include:

Co₂GeO₄ nanoplates and nano-octahedrons from low-temperature controlled synthesis and their magnetic properties
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 7306-7311
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE25772F

Solvothermal synthesis of luminescent Eu(BTC)(H₂O)DMF hierarchical architectures
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 2914-2919
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06572J

Self-assembled 3D flower-like hierarchical Fe₃O₄/K_xMnO₂ core–shell architectures and their application for removal of dye pollutants
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 2866-2870
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06349B

From 29^thApril onwards, authors will be able to choose Hongjie as the Associate Editor when submitting to CrystEngComm.

Better field emitters from GaZnO nanopagodas

Wendy Mak, Development Editor — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:34:17 +0000

ZnO nanostructures have generated much interest recently due to their unique properties, which make them ideal candidates for photo applications such as solar cells, light emitting diodes and field emission displays. While it has been known that Ga doped ZnO shows good field emission properties, there are very few studies on how Ga doping affects the ZnO crystals.

In this paper, the authors investigated Ga doped ZnO nanostructures grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. By varying the growth temperature, Ga concentration and growth time, the authors were able to vary the morphology of the GaZnO nanostructures from wires to a pagoda shape. The formation of the pagodas were also explained via a computational simulation of the growth process.

A study of the field emission properties of the GaZnO nanopagodas demonstrated that the geometry of the nanostructure and the density of the pagodas affects the turn-on voltage of the emitters as well as the field enhancement factor. In general, the nanopagodas demonstrated better field emission properties than pure ZnO nanowires.

This study can guide crystal engineers towards designing and producing better GaZnO nanostructures for practical applications.

Find out more from the article:

Experimental and computational insights in the growth of gallium-doped zinc oxide nanostructures with superior field emission properties
Hsien-Ming Chiu, Hsin-Jung Tsai, Wen-Kuang Hsu and Jenn-Ming Wu
CrystEngComm, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CE40101D, Paper