CrystEngComm Blog

In this CrystEngComm Hot Article, Shenghuang Lin and colleagues investigate the formation and suppression of misoriented grains in silicon carbide (SiC), a well-known semiconductor material.

The growth rate of misoriented grains at the margins of the crystal is faster than that of the matrix and many thermal decomposition cavities exist at the initial growth stage. This indicates that the misoriented grains may originate from thermal decomposition cavities.

The work will be useful in developing preparation methods that suppress the formation of misoriented grains resulting in high quality, large diameter SiC crystals.

Such high quality crystals are required by industry to meet the full potential of SiC-based devices.

Read more for free until 22nd March 2011:

Formation and suppression of misoriented grains in 6H-SiC crystals
Shenghuang Lin, Zhiming Chen, Peng Liang, Yintu Ba and Sujuan Liu
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00646G, Paper

Researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai have developed a simple strategy for simultaneously controlling the morphology and chemical composition of hydroxyapatite powders.

In this CrystEngComm Hot Article, nanoparticles, nanowires and nanosheets were produced by hydrothermal treatment of calcium silicate precursors without the use of surfactants, template-directing reagents or organic solvents. The chemical composition was controlled by regulation of the chemical composition of the precursor and the reaction ratio of the precursor/solution.

The strategy could be useful for optimising the performance of hydroxyapatite in its many applications, including biomedical materials, gas sensing and catalysis.

Read more for free until 22nd March 2011.

Synthesis of element-substituted hydroxyapatite with controllable morphology and chemical composition using calcium silicate as precursor
Kaili Lin, Jiang Chang, Xiaoguo Liu, Lei Chen and Yanling Zhou
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00835D, Paper

Designing coordination polymers with both lanthanide and transition metal centres is of great interest to the MOF community in terms of the often wierd and wonderful architectures that can be achieved as well as the properties that can be derived from these networks in such diverse areas as magnetism, luminescence, catalysis and molecular adsorption.

In this CrystEngComm Hot Article, Su et al. have synthesised four such coordination polymers with Ln–Cu (3d–4f) centres that show intriguing properties and structures, opening the door for other structures to be synthesised in the future.

Read for free until 22 nd March 2001 here.

3D lanthanide–transition-metal–organic frameworks constructed from tetranuclear {Ln4} SBUs and Cu centres with fsc net
Jing Xu, Weiping Su* and Maochun Hong
CrystEngComm, 2011,DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00800A, Paper

In this CrystEngComm Hot Article, Pal et al., describe a modified hydrothermal (MHT) reaction for the nucleation, growth and reversible dehydration of a well defined uranium oxide hydroxide hydrate species.

Shaping nano-/microcrystals using a ‘bottom-up’ method needs considerable attention.   This is important as the morphology, dimensionality and size of the material can have a effect on its physical and chemical properties.

Read for free until 22nd March 2011 and find out more about these different crystal morphologies here.

Interested in amazing crystal images?  Why not check out our Crystal Clear section.

Morphology controlled uranium oxide hydroxide hydrate for catalysis, luminescence and SERS studies
Mukul Pradhan, Sougata Sarkar, Arun Kumar Sinha, Mrinmoyee Basu and Tarasankar Pal*
CrystEngComm, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00666A, Paper

In their CrystEngComm Hot Article, Mike Hursthouse and colleagues from the University of Southampton, use a systematic approach to the study of crystal structure assembly in the aspirin family of molecules. Find out what they found by reading their paper:

Further crystal structures for the substituted aspirin family of molecules: the first aspirin carboxylate catemer and a detailed assessment of the subtle influences of weak intermolecular interactions
Michael B. Hursthouse, Riccardo Montis and Graham J. Tizzard
CrystEngComm, 2011,DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00838A, Paper

Photodimerization in the solid state is highly dependent on the relative position and orientation of the monomers. In this CrystEngComm Hot Article, the authors use CCDC records to investigate a number of anthracene derivatives to determine which will dimerise in the solid state when exposed to light. Find out how by reading the paper.

Photodimerization of anthracene derivatives in their neat solid state and in solid molecular compounds
I. Zouev, Den-Ke Cao, T. V. Sreevidya, M. Telzhensky, M. Botoshansky and M. Kaftory
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00739K, Paper

This article is part of a forthcoming themed issue entitled “Dynamic behaviour and reactivity in crystalline solids”. Look out for the issue when it is published in April. Find out more about CrystEngComm themed issues on our themed issue webpage.

Qing Peng and colleagues from Tsinghua University, Beijing have produced large-scale perpendicular assemblies of  wurtzite CuInS₂  nanorods purely by controlling the solvent evaporation rate.

Their findings will aid the development of “ink” techniques for producing thin-film solar cells.

The team synthesised a range of CuInS₂  nanocrystals of different shapes and sizes by reacting inorganic salts with dodecanethiol and controlling the Cu:In ratio or introducing other ligands into the reaction system.

Read more in this CrystEngComm Hot Article for FREE until 22nd March 2011

Controlled synthesis of wurtzite CuInS₂ nanocrystals and their side-by-side nanorod assemblies
Xiaotang Lu, Zhongbin Zhuang, Qing Peng and Yadong Li
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00451K, Paper