Solid-State Materials Application

In solid-state chemistry, the understanding of interaction between the crystal structure of solids and its material properties is of crucial interest in science and industry in a wide range of application areas. One field of interest is the interaction between crystal structure, average crystal size and the band-gap energy for photocatalytic active materials in the UV/Vis region.

Methods of solid-state synthesis and characterization

• Synthesizing methods for polycrystalline powders:
  • Solvothermal synthesis (with a focus on hydrothermal synthesis)
  • Glycerin method
  • Solid-state synthesis
  • Polyol method using Diethylene glycol (DEG), ethylene glycol (EG) or glycerin
  • PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) method
• Preparation methods for polycrystalline coatings:
  • Drop coating
  • Airbrush system
• Characterization methods:
  • Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy of solids and liquids
  • Determination of the photocatalytic activity of solids
  • X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD)
  • Raman spectroscopy
  • Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
  • Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS)

Research Lead: Alexander Wollbrink