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Crystals
Special Issues
Solution-Processed Inorganic Functional Crystals
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Solution-Processed Inorganic Functional Crystals

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2018)

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Lan Xiang

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Interests: inorganic chemistry; crystal growth; powder technology; low-dimensional nanomaterials
Dr. Jing Wang

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Interests: inorganic nanostructures; nanocomposites; photocatalysis; sensors
Prof. Dr. Huijun Wu

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Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Interests: building energy efficiency; building thermal engineering; thermal insulation; radiant cooling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Guo Gao

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Guest Editor
Department of Instrument Science and Technology, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Interests: nanomaterials; synthesis;biology; energy
Dr. Yongcheng Jin

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Guest Editor
Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266100, China
Interests: energy conversion and storage; lithium ion battery; fuel cell; functional inorganic materials; hythothermal technology
Dr. Yi Xia

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Guest Editor
Research Center for Analysis and Measurement, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650223, China
Interests: crystal growth; alloy; nanomaterials; microwave synthesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Synthesis of inorganic crystals has been an increasingly important subject for chemical engineering researchers over the last few years, owing to their functional properties and wide applications in many fields, such as ceramics, optoelectronics, catalysts, and composites. The ability to strongly exploit functional crystals and access their properties relies on the ability to fine-tune their crystalline phase, morphology, and surface chemistry. In this regard, solution-based routes provide suitable tools for the design and fabrication of inorganic functional crystals with tailored size-, shape-, composition-, and surface-dependent properties. Furthermore, uncovering the potential applications of inorganic crystals in various fields, especially in energy and environment-related fields, have become an urgent and booming issue.

We invite contributors to submit original papers, reviews or highlights that account for recent advances in the field of inorganic crystal synthesis, characterization, surface engineering, functionalization and their applications. We hope this Special Issue will promote the development of inorganic crystals synthesis and their applications in multiple fields.

Prof. Dr. Lan Xiang
Dr. Jing Wang
Dr. Huijun Wu
Dr. Guo Gao
Dr. Yongcheng Jin
Dr. Yi Xia
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 2600 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

  • Solution fabrication of inorganic crystals

  • Inorganic crystal growth mechanisms

  • Characterization of inorganic crystals

  • Surface engineering and modification

  • Functionalization of inorganic crystals

  • Applications of inorganic crystals

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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6791 KiB  
Article
The Effects of a Mixed Precipitant on the Morphology and Electrochemical Performance of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 Cathode Materials
by Yang Shu, Wenchao Yan, Haisong Wang, Jicheng Jiang, Deye Sun, Xiaodi Ma and Yongcheng Jin
Crystals 2017, 7(9), 275; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst7090275 - 14 Sep 2017
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5086
Abstract
A series of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) samples were synthesized by adjusting the molar ratio of (NH4)2CO3 to Na2CO3 in a mixed precipitant for evaluating the effects of ammonia from (NH4 [...] Read more.
A series of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) samples were synthesized by adjusting the molar ratio of (NH4)2CO3 to Na2CO3 in a mixed precipitant for evaluating the effects of ammonia from (NH4)2CO3 as a complexing agent and Na2CO3 as a precipitant on the morphology and electrochemical performances of LNMO. In this research, a rapid precipitation method followed by hydrothermal treatment was used to prepare the precursors of LNMO, and different molar ratios (0:1, 1:2, 1:1, 2:1, 1:0) of (NH4)2CO3 to Na2CO3 were used for mixed precipitants. The test results revealed that the cathode material exhibits the best electrochemical performance when the molar ratio of (NH4)2CO3 to Na2CO3 is set at 1:2, displaying a specific discharge capacity of 129.4 mA h g−1 at 0.5 C and a capacity retention of 82.3% after 200 charge–discharge cycles. In addition, it still shows a high rate performance with a discharge capacity of 112.7 mA h g−1 at 10 C and 98.8 mA h g−1 at 20 C, which is attributed to an accurate Ni/Mn ratio, smaller primary particle sizes and a porous spherical morphology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Solution-Processed Inorganic Functional Crystals)
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788 KiB  
Article
Separating NaCl and AlCl3·6H2O Crystals from Acidic Solution Assisted by the Non-Equilibrium Phase Diagram of AlCl3-NaCl-H2O(-HCl) Salt-Water System at 353.15 K
by Huaigang Cheng, Jianwei Zhang, Huibin Lv, Yanxia Guo, Wenting Cheng, Jing Zhao and Fangqin Cheng
Crystals 2017, 7(8), 244; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst7080244 - 04 Aug 2017
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 10291
Abstract
Extracting AlCl3·6H2O from acid leaching solution through crystallization is one of the key processes to extracting aluminum from fly ash, coal gangue and other industrial solid wastes. However, the obtained products usually have low purity and a key problem [...] Read more.
Extracting AlCl3·6H2O from acid leaching solution through crystallization is one of the key processes to extracting aluminum from fly ash, coal gangue and other industrial solid wastes. However, the obtained products usually have low purity and a key problem is the lack of accurate data for phase equilibrium. This paper presented the non-equilibrium phase diagrams of AlCl3-NaCl-H2O (HCl) salt-water systems under continuous heating and evaporation conditions, which were the main components of the acid leaching solution obtained through a sodium-assisted activation hydrochloric acid leaching process. The ternary system was of a simple eutonic type under different acidities. There were three crystalline regions; the crystalline regions of AlCl3·6H2O, NaCl and the mixture AlCl3·6H2O/NaCl, respectively. The phase diagram was used to optimize the crystallization process of AlCl3·6H2O and NaCl. A process was designed to evaporate and remove NaCl at the first stage of the evaporation process, and then continue to evaporate and crystallize AlCl3·6H2O after solid-liquid separation. The purities of the final salt products were 99.12% for NaCl and up to 97.35% for AlCl3·6H2O, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Solution-Processed Inorganic Functional Crystals)
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3169 KiB  
Article
Influence of Alkyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromides on Hydrothermal Formation of α-CaSO4·0.5H2O Whiskers with High Aspect Ratios
by Ruosong Chen, Sichao Hou, Jing Wang and Lan Xiang
Crystals 2017, 7(1), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst7010028 - 18 Jan 2017
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6911
Abstract
In this paper, the influence of alkyl trimethyl ammonium bromides (CnH2n+1(CH3)3NBr, n = 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, abbreviated as ATAB) on the formation of alpha calcium sulfate hemihydrate (α-CaSO4·0.5H2O) whiskers [...] Read more.
In this paper, the influence of alkyl trimethyl ammonium bromides (CnH2n+1(CH3)3NBr, n = 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, abbreviated as ATAB) on the formation of alpha calcium sulfate hemihydrate (α-CaSO4·0.5H2O) whiskers under a hydrothermal condition (135 °C, 3.0 h) was analyzed. Specifically, it focuses on cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (C16H33(CH3)3NBr, abbreviated as CTAB). The rising CTAB concentration from 0 to 9.2 × 10−4 mol·L−1 led to the increase of the average aspect ratio of α-CaSO4·0.5H2O whiskers from 80 to 430, since the selective adsorption of CTAB on the negatively-charged side facets of the whiskers inhibited the growth of the whiskers along the direction normal to the lateral facets. The further increase of CTAB concentration above the critical micelle concentration (abbreviated as CMC) showed little effect on the morphology of α-CaSO4·0.5H2O whiskers, considering that CTAB tended to form micelles instead of being adsorbed on the whisker surfaces. Similar phenomena were observed in other ATABs (n = 10, 12, 14, 18). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Solution-Processed Inorganic Functional Crystals)
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Review

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2569 KiB  
Review
Understanding Mn-Based Intercalation Cathodes from Thermodynamics and Kinetics
by Yin Xie, Yongcheng Jin and Lan Xiang
Crystals 2017, 7(7), 221; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst7070221 - 13 Jul 2017
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 7059
Abstract
A series of Mn-based intercalation compounds have been applied as the cathode materials of Li-ion batteries, such as LiMn2O4, LiNi1−x−yCoxMnyO2, etc. With open structures, intercalation compounds exhibit [...] Read more.
A series of Mn-based intercalation compounds have been applied as the cathode materials of Li-ion batteries, such as LiMn2O4, LiNi1−x−yCoxMnyO2, etc. With open structures, intercalation compounds exhibit a wide variety of thermodynamic and kinetic properties depending on their crystal structures, host chemistries, etc. Understanding these materials from thermodynamic and kinetic points of view can facilitate the exploration of cathodes with better electrochemical performances. This article reviews the current available thermodynamic and kinetic knowledge on Mn-based intercalation compounds, including the thermal stability, structural intrinsic features, involved redox couples, phase transformations as well as the electrical and ionic conductivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Solution-Processed Inorganic Functional Crystals)
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