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Molecules
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Synthesis and Structural Investigations of Nanocrystalline Materials
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Synthesis and Structural Investigations of Nanocrystalline Materials

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2021) | Viewed by 17905

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Igor Djerdj

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Cara Hadrijana 8/a, HR-31000 Osijek, Croatia
Interests: solid state chemistry; materials chemistry; condensed matter physics; magnetic properties; structure–property relationship; bandstructure calculation; sol-gel synthesis; crystal structure determination; three-way catalysts; functional materials; nanomaterials; perovskites; multiferroicity; metal–organic frameworks
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jasminka Popović

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: X-ray powder diffraction; in-situ non-ambient X-ray diffraction; structure solution; Rietveld refinement; 2D and quasi 2D perovskites; spinels; coordination compounds; magnetic materials; energy materials; optoelectronic materials; Li-ion batteries; LEDs; doped materials; mechanochemical synthesis; sol-gel chemistry; decompositon routes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Up to now, different approaches have been established for nanomaterials syntheses, sol‐gel methods, hydrothermal and/or solovothermal routes, chemical vapor deposition, thermal decomposition, pulsed laser ablation, epitaxial growth, colloidal dispersion, microemulsions, and various precipitation processes. Mechanical methods, such as ball milling and mechanical alloying, have also been demonstrated as low-cost alternatives. At some point, microwave synthesis also emerged as a fast route towards the preparation of nanomaterials. The synthesis of nanostructure materials using the template method has become extremely popular during the last decade. It is important to highlight that the future advances in modern technology will depend on the propulsive developments in the rational design of new nanomaterials with targeted properties. Therefore, the idea behind this Special Issue is to identify major strengths and downsides intrinsic to synthesis protocols applied for the preparation of various nanomaterials families, starting with semiconductors, mulitiferroics, and hydrogen storage materials, all the way to the energy materials for solar cell and LED applications. Besides new techniques and protocols for nanomaterials synthesis, the additional focus of this Special Issue will also be the establishing of the correlation between the preparation conditions, crystal structure, and microstructure on the one hand and resulting properties on the other.

We look forward to receiving your contributions in the form of communications, full articles, or review papers.

Prof. Dr. Igor Djerdj
Dr. Jasminka Popović
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sol‐gel route
  • hydrothermal route
  • solovothermal routes
  • chemical vapor deposition
  • thermal decomposition
  • pulsed laser ablation
  • epitaxial growth
  • colloidal dispersion
  • microemulsions
  • precipitation processes
  • Ball milling
  • mechanical alloying

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 7496 KiB  
Article
Strategies to Achieve High Strength and Ductility of Pulsed Electrodeposited Nanocrystalline Co-Cu by Tuning the Deposition Parameters
by Killang Pratama and Christian Motz
Molecules 2020, 25(21), 5194; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules25215194 - 08 Nov 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2711
Abstract
Strategies to improve tensile strength and ductility of pulsed electrodeposited nanocrystalline Co-Cu were investigated. Parameters of deposition, which are pulse current density, duty cycle, and pulse-on time were adjusted to produce nanocrystalline Co-Cu deposits with different microstructures and morphologies. The most significant improvement [...] Read more.
Strategies to improve tensile strength and ductility of pulsed electrodeposited nanocrystalline Co-Cu were investigated. Parameters of deposition, which are pulse current density, duty cycle, and pulse-on time were adjusted to produce nanocrystalline Co-Cu deposits with different microstructures and morphologies. The most significant improvement of strength and ductility was observed at nanocrystalline Co-Cu deposited, at a low duty cycle (10%) and a low pulse-on time (0.3 ms), with a high pulse current density (1000 A/m2). Enhancement of ductility of nanocrystalline Co-Cu was also obtained through annealing at 200 °C, while annealing at 300 °C leads to strengthening of materials with reduction of ductility. In the as deposited state, tensile strength and ductility of nanocrystalline Co-Cu is strongly influenced by several factors such as concentration of Cu, grain size, and processing flaws (e.g., crystal growth border, porosity, and internal stresses), which can be controlled by adjusting the parameters of deposition. In addition, the presence of various microstructural features (e.g., spinodal and phase decomposition), as well as recovery processes induced by annealing treatments, also have a significant contribution to the tensile strength and ductility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Structural Investigations of Nanocrystalline Materials)
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17 pages, 11798 KiB  
Article
Nanostructured Silicon as Potential Anode Material for Li-Ion Batteries
by Matea Raić, Lara Mikac, Ivan Marić, Goran Štefanić, Marko Škrabić, Marijan Gotić and Mile Ivanda
Molecules 2020, 25(4), 891; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules25040891 - 17 Feb 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6295
Abstract
Commercial micrometer silicon (Si) powder was investigated as a potential anode material for lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries. The characterization of this powder showed the mean particle size of approx.75.2 nm, BET surface area of 10.6 m2/g and average pore size of [...] Read more.
Commercial micrometer silicon (Si) powder was investigated as a potential anode material for lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries. The characterization of this powder showed the mean particle size of approx.75.2 nm, BET surface area of 10.6 m2/g and average pore size of 0.56 nm. Its band gap was estimated to 1.35 eV as determined using UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra. In order to increase the surface area and porosity which is important for Li-ion batteries, the starting Si powder was ball-milled and threatened by metal-assisted chemical etching. The mechanochemical treatment resulted in decrease of the particle size from 75 nm to 29 nm, an increase of the BET surface area and average pore size to 16.7 m2/g and 1.26 nm, respectively, and broadening of the X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) lines. The XRD patterns of silver metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) sample showed strong and narrow diffraction lines typical for powder silicon and low-intensity diffraction lines typical for silver. The metal-assisted chemical etching of starting Si material resulted in a decrease of surface area to 7.3 m2/g and an increase of the average pore size to 3.44 nm. These three materials were used as the anode material in lithium-ion cells, and their electrochemical properties were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge cycles. The enhanced electrochemical performance of the sample prepared by MACE is attributed to increase in pore size, which are large enough for easy lithiation. These are the positive aspects of the application of MACE in the development of an anode material for Li-ion batteries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Structural Investigations of Nanocrystalline Materials)
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18 pages, 2799 KiB  
Article
ZnO@TiO2 Core Shell Nanorod Arrays with Tailored Structural, Electrical, and Optical Properties for Photovoltaic Application
by Ivana Panžić, Krunoslav Juraić, Nikša Krstulović, Ana Šantić, Domagoj Belić, Damjan Blažeka, Milivoj Plodinec, Vilko Mandić, Jelena Macan, Adnan Hammud, Danail Ivanov, Jasper Plaisier, Marc Gregor Willinger, Davor Gracin and Andreja Gajović
Molecules 2019, 24(21), 3965; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules24213965 - 01 Nov 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3869
Abstract
ZnO has prominent electron transport and optical properties, beneficial for photovoltaic application, but its surface is prone to the formation of defects. To overcome this problem, we deposited nanostructured TiO2 thin film on ZnO nanorods to form a stable shell. ZnO nanorods [...] Read more.
ZnO has prominent electron transport and optical properties, beneficial for photovoltaic application, but its surface is prone to the formation of defects. To overcome this problem, we deposited nanostructured TiO2 thin film on ZnO nanorods to form a stable shell. ZnO nanorods synthesized by wet-chemistry are single crystals. Three different procedures for deposition of TiO2 were applied. The influence of preparation methods and parameters on the structure, morphology, electrical and optical properties were studied. Nanostructured TiO2 shells show different morphologies dependent on deposition methods: (1) separated nanoparticles (by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in Ar), (2) a layer with nonhomogeneous thickness (by PLD in vacuum or DC reactive magnetron sputtering), and (3) a homogenous thin layer along the nanorods (by chemical deposition). Based on the structural study, we chose the preparation parameters to obtain an anatase structure of the TiO2 shell. Impedance spectroscopy shows pure electron conductivity that was considerably better in all the ZnO@TiO2 than in bare ZnO nanorods or TiO2 layers. The best conductivity among the studied samples and the lowest activation energy was observed for the sample with a chemically deposited TiO2 shell. Higher transparency in the visible part of spectrum was achieved for the sample with a homogenous TiO2 layer along the nanorods, then in the samples with a layer of varying thickness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Structural Investigations of Nanocrystalline Materials)
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13 pages, 4052 KiB  
Article
Solution-Based Synthesis and Characterization of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) Thin Films
by Ubaidah Syafiq, Narges Ataollahi, Rosa Di Maggio and Paolo Scardi
Molecules 2019, 24(19), 3454; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules24193454 - 23 Sep 2019
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4412
Abstract
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) ink was synthesized from metal chloride precursors, sulfur, and oleylamine (OLA), as a ligand by a simple and low-cost hot-injection method. Thin films of CZTS were then prepared by spin coating, followed by thermal annealing. The effects of [...] Read more.
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) ink was synthesized from metal chloride precursors, sulfur, and oleylamine (OLA), as a ligand by a simple and low-cost hot-injection method. Thin films of CZTS were then prepared by spin coating, followed by thermal annealing. The effects of the fabrication parameters, such as ink concentration, spinning rate, and thermal treatment temperatures on the morphology and structural, optical, and electrical properties of the films were investigated. As expected, very thin films, for which the level of transmittance and band-gap values increase, can be obtained either by reducing the concentration of the inks or by increasing the rate of spinning. Moreover, the thermal treatment affects the phase formation and crystallinity of the film, as well as the electrical conductivity, which decreases at a higher temperature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Structural Investigations of Nanocrystalline Materials)
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