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Special Issue "Metal Oxides: Crystal Structure, Synthesis and Characterization"

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A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Inorganic Crystalline Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2023) | Viewed by 3137

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Karolina Siedliska

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Guest Editor

Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Lublin University of Technology, Lublin, Poland
Interests: Mössbauer spectroscopy; ternary oxides; delafossites

Dr. Kamila Komędera

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Guest Editor

Department of Physics, Pedagogical University of Krakow, Krakow, Poland
Interests: Mössbauer spectroscopy; magnetic materials; superconductors

Dr. Raffaello Mazzaro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

CNR-IMM Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 101, 40139 Bologna, Italy
Interests: metal oxides; semiconductor nanocrystals; energy conversion; luminescent materials; low-dimensional systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Metal oxides have been extensively explored in recent years due to their great variety of functional properties that make them ideal candidates for a wide range of applications in solar cells, energy storage devices, gas sensors, optoelectrical devices, catalysis, etc. Particular emphasis is paid to developing materials which exhibit more than one combined exciting features, which provides opportunities for observing new interesting phenomena (e.g., multiferroicity).

A metal oxide’s properties strongly depend on the oxide’s crystal structure, composition, defects, doping, etc., which determine its magnetic, optical, chemical, electrical, and mechanical characteristics. In addition, synthesis methods and growth parameters strongly determine a material’s morpho-structural characteristics and physicochemical properties.

This Special Issue is focused on methods for the synthesis and characterization of metal oxides in a wide range of forms, from crystals and nanoparticles to thin films and multilayer structures (superlattices, metamaterials, devices, etc.) with novel multifunctional characteristics that combine at least two properties: electrical and optical, electrical and magnetic, optical and magnetic, electrical and mechanical, thermal and chemical, etc. As Guest Editor, I invite you to submit contributions to this Special Issue. Interdisciplinary approaches toward the preparation of new forms of metal oxides and the exploration of their properties are encouraged.

Dr. Karolina Siedliska
Dr. Kamila Komędera
Dr. Raffaello Mazzaro
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. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2000 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

metal oxides
material characterization
synthesis
crystal structure
nanomaterials
applications

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Thermal Expansion and Phase Transformation up to 1200 °C of Metastable Aluminas Produced by Flame Spraying

Tilo Zienert

and

Christos Georgios Aneziris

Crystals 2023, 13(5), 743; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13050743 - 29 Apr 2023

Viewed by 561

Abstract

The transition aluminas

δ

_{1}

and the cubic, non-spinel-type

η

-Al

_{2}

_{3}

were detected in addition to

α

-Al

_{2}

_{3}

in flame-sprayed material. Their transitions from room temperature up to 1200 °C were investigated by high-temperature XRD measurements. Structural [...] Read more.

The transition aluminas

δ

_{1}

and the cubic, non-spinel-type

η

-Al

_{2}

_{3}

were detected in addition to

α

-Al

_{2}

_{3}

in flame-sprayed material. Their transitions from room temperature up to 1200 °C were investigated by high-temperature XRD measurements. Structural changes with time and temperature were observed for all transition aluminas (

η

δ

_{1}

- and

θ

-Al

_{2}

_{3}

). The phases followed the expected transition sequence of

η

→

δ

_{1}

→

θ

→

α

and showed mainly linear, temperature-independent transition rates. Based on the determined thermal expansion of the phases, it is proposed that the metastable transitions are at least partly mechanically induced. In addition, a second-order phase transition from

η

→

θ

might be indicated around 1050–1075 °C by the determined trends of density. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal Oxides: Crystal Structure, Synthesis and Characterization)

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Open AccessArticle

Oxygen Vacancies in Zirconia and Their Migration: The Role of Hubbard-U Parameters in Density Functional Theory

Ralph Gebauer

Crystals 2023, 13(4), 574; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13040574 - 28 Mar 2023

Viewed by 551

Abstract

Cubic zirconia (c-ZrO

_{2}

Cubic zirconia (c-ZrO

_{2}

) is studied using Density Functional Theory with Hubbard-U corrections (DFT+U). It is shown that the determination of the U-parameters from first principles leads to values for U(Zr-4d) and U(O-2p) which are very different from standard choices. The calculated band gap with these values for U closely matches the experimental gap. Oxygen vacancies are studied using this approach, and it is found that it is possible to closely reproduce the vacancy migration energies calculated with a hybrid functional. The oxygen vacancy is associated with two excess electrons which localize in the vacancy’s cavity. In the presence of these excess electrons, the barrier for vacancy migration is very high. If instead, a charged vacancy V

_{O}

^{2 +}

is considered, its mobility increases considerably—an effect that is attributed to the absence of space charges localized in the cavity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal Oxides: Crystal Structure, Synthesis and Characterization)

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Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Ti/SBA-15 Composites Synthesized by Chemical Vapour Deposition of Organic Titanium Compounds

Leszek Ruchomski

Jan Ozimek

Karolina Siedliska

Konstantinos N. Raftopoulos

and

Krzysztof Pielichowski

Crystals 2023, 13(2), 288; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13020288 - 08 Feb 2023

Viewed by 679

Abstract

The chemical vapour deposition technique was applied to obtain Ti/SBA-15 composites. Titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) and titanium(IV) tetrabutoxide (TNBT) as sources of TiO₂ were deposited on mesoporous silica (SBA-15) from the gaseous phase at 180–200 °C and treated at 250 °C in air. X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy were used for structural investigations. Moreover, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy studies and electrophoretic mobility measurements were conducted. Investigations revealed that Ti ions were mainly deposited on the SBA-15 surface as a thin layer of amorphous TiO₂. However, Ti ions were not detected in the composites synthesized using TNBT as the starting reagent. The thickness of the deposited titanium oxide layer was estimated as 6–7 nm, and the porous silica structure has not been damaged. Moreover, the Ti ions deposition on the SBA-15 surface did not significantly change the investigated Ti/SBA-15 composites’ thermal stability compared to pristine silica. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal Oxides: Crystal Structure, Synthesis and Characterization)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

ZnO and ZnO-Based Materials as Active Layer in Resistive Random-Access Memory (RRAM)

Ewelina Nowak

Edyta Chłopocka

and

Mirosław Szybowicz

Crystals 2023, 13(3), 416; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13030416 - 28 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 964

Abstract

In this paper, an overview of the influence of various modifications on ZnO-based RRAM has been conducted. Firstly, the motivation for creating new memory technology is presented. The resistive switching mechanism is explained, including its response to the selection of active layers and electrodes. A comparison of ZnO devices assembled via different deposition methods is made. Additional treatment of the active layer and electrodes improving the performance are reported. This work gives an overview of the influence of different dopants on the characteristics of the device. The manuscript overviews the previous investigation of inclusion of inserting layers and nanostructures into ZnO-based RRAM. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal Oxides: Crystal Structure, Synthesis and Characterization)

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Special Issue "Metal Oxides: Crystal Structure, Synthesis and Characterization"

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