With the support of the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Program and the Solid-State Chemistry Program, Professor Catherine Page, of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oregon, is developing new methods for the phase- and shape-selective synthesis of solid-state materials. By exploiting the ability of certain organic molecules to solubilize salts in organic solvents, the often powerful effects of both solvation and chelation are brought to bear on the modification of crystal growth. Additional benefits of this approach to solid-state material crystallization include operation under ambient conditions of temperature and pressure, utilization of simple precursors, including those precluded by rapid decomposition from use in aqueous media, and easily-tunable control over crystal shape and size.
In addition to providing access to new materials of potential technological significance, these studies address environmental issues in that they replace volatile, spontaneously flammable, and/or toxic precursors with simple salts, and replace energy-consumptive high temperature routes with ambient temperature syntheses, and use easily recyclable and purifiable organic solvents in place of water. The award also supports the education and training of high school, undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students.
