CrystEngComm Blog

In this CrystEngComm Hot article, Co₃O₄ thin films are synthesised on MgO and MgAl₂O₄ single crystal substrates.

The authors manage to keep the growth temperature quite low while still obtaining high quality films, which will be particularly useful for device fabrication.

Read the full article to find out more about the low temperature deposition technique they used…

Strongly oriented Co3O4 thin films on MgO(100) and MgAl2O4(100) substrates by PE-CVD
Davide Barreca, Anjana Devi, Roland A. Fischer, Daniela Bekermann, Alberto Gasparotto, Marco Gavagnin, Chiara Maccato, Eugenio Tondello, Elza Bontempi, Laura E. Depero and Cinzia Sada
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05280B, Communication

In this CrystEngComm Hot article, Balachandran Jeyadevan and co-workers from the University of Shiga Prefecture, Japan make cubic-shaped standing Ni–Pt alloy nanoparticles via an alcohol reduction process.

These nanoparticles are particularly interesting because, rather unusually, they stand on their corners, instead of on a face. Jeyadevan believes this due to ‘the magnetic interaction between particles whose easy axis is in the [111] direction’.

Novel standing Ni–Pt alloy nanocubes
Jhon L. Cuya Huaman, Shunya Fukao, Kozo Shinoda and Balachandran Jeyadevan
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05241A, Communication

FREE TO READ until 13th May

Chinping Chen, Rongming Wang and colleagues have made perfect single crystals of MgBr₂, as part of their collaboration between Peking University and Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Magnesium diboride is known for its good superconducting properties, and many forms of MgB2 have been made previously, but large single crystals are still extremely difficult to obtain. In this CrystEngComm Hot article, Chen and Wang use a hybrid physical-chemical vapor deposition technique to obtain perfect crystals.

Read the full article to find out more about magnesium diboride single crystals…

Single-crystal MgB2 hexagonal microprisms via hybrid physical-chemical vapor deposition
Weimeng Chen, Wei Liu, Chinping Chen, Rongming Wang and Qingrong Feng
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05272A, Communication

FREE TO READ until 13th May

This CrystEngComm Hot article demonstrates the fabrication of metal nitride nanofibres by electrospinning and thermolysis in different atmospheres.

Xingbin Yan and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou make zinc titanate compounds, which are known for their wide application in roles as varied as paint pigments, gas sensors and catalysis.

In this paper they are making Zn₂TiO₄, which is an inverse spinel, and TiN nanofibers, but their method can be extended to other metal nitrides.

Read the full article to find out more about these nanofibers…

Fabrication of Zn2TiO4 and TiN nanofibers by pyrolysis of electrospun precursor fibers
Dongfei Sun, Xingbin Yan, Jiangtao Chen, Shengxue Yu, Litian Hu and Qunji Xue
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05033H, Paper

FREE TO READ until 14th May

In this Perspective article, Gerd Kaupp, from the University of Oldenburg, Germany looks at the varied use of milling with metals according to reaction types.

This is an essential guide to mechanical milling, where Kaupp covers the bredth of the field from alloying, brittle milling and ductile kneading, to milling of metals with infinitely covalent non-metals, with metal salts and hydrides, molecular crystals and carbon, with gases, and with organic halides and ketones, as well as with other metals.

Kaupp particularly emphasises that in many cases it is easy to reduce the long milling times found in a great deal of the literature  ‘based on the chemical and technical understanding of the various processes’.

Read the full article to find out more about ways to improve your milling…

Reactive milling with metals for environmentally benign sustainable production
G. Kaupp
CrystEngComm, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05085K, Highlight