CrystEngComm Blog

In this CrystEngComm Hot article, scientists at Harbin Normal University, China, made ZnO nanoplates by introducing Al³⁺ to change the growth and thickness of the nanostructures. Their method is particularly interesting as they do not use a template or surfactant.

One-step hydrothermal synthesis and optical properties of aluminium doped ZnO hexagonal nanoplates on a zinc substrate
Jia Liu, Lingling Xu, Bo Wei, Wei Lv, Hong Gao and Xitian Zhang
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00704H, Communication

In this CrystEngComm Hot Article, Lee Brammer and colleagues look at making crystalline copper compounds mechanochemically, examining both solid-solid and solid-gas systems. The solid-gas reaction was monitored in situ using synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction and a specially designed gas-handling rig meaning that polymorphs formed during the reaction could be identified!

Synthesis and polymorphism of (4-ClpyH)2[CuCl4]: solid–gas and solid–solid reactions 
Iñigo J. Vitorica-Yrezabal, Rachel A. Sullivan, Stephen L. Purver, Caroline Curfs, Chiu C. Tang and Lee Brammer
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00628A, Paper

For the first time, metal-organic nanotubes have been made using a hydrogen-bonding self-assembly approach.

Jianlin Han and Yi Pan and colleagues from Nanjing University, China, used specially designed ligands to control the hydrogen bonding, constructing 2D layered structures that self-assembled into nanotubes. Such materials are exciting for their potential for use as molecular capillaries and sieves, and for use in biological models.

This CrystEngComm Hot article is free to read for a limited period.

Hydrogen-bonding self-assembly of two dimensional (2D) layer structures generating metal–organic nanotubes
Hailong Sun, Haibo Mei, Guanghui An, Jianlin Han and Yi Pan
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00471E , Communication

READ FOR FREE until January