Auteur/autrice : david

The first paper of Carlos on hydrofluxes is out! These original solvents, at the edge of water and molten salts, promise many discoveries for crystallization and materials discovery in the future. Stay tuned!

Crystallization of Manganese(V) Oxides by Hydroflux Synthesis: Control of Anisotropic Growth and Electrochemical Stability, C. V. M. Inocêncio, A. Torres-Pardo, D. Montero, L. Roach, P.-O. Autran, C. Sassoye, C. Aymonier, A. Varela, M. Parras, C. Laberty-Robert, D. Portehault*, Inorganic Chemistry, 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.4c05439

The work of Fernando on the isomorphic synthesis of boron carbide nanocrystals and their processing into superhard materials is now published in ACS Nano. A fruitful and friendly collaboration with Yann Le Godec from IMPMC – Sorbonne University

Transforming Nanocrystals into Superhard Boron Carbide Nanostructures, F. Igoa Saldaña, T. Gaudisson, S. Le Floch, B. Baptiste, L. Delbes, V. Malarewicz, O. Beyssac, K. Béneut, C. Coelho Diogo, C. Gervais, G. Rousse, K. Rasim, Y. Grin, A. Maître, Y. Le Godec*, D. Portehault*, ACS Nano,  10.1021/acsnano.4c08599

In a study led by Glenna Drisko and M. A. Parker at ICMCB, we designed a redox pathway involving a silicon Zintl phase and a custom-made silicon complex to fabricate size-controlled silicon particles. Anissa contributed significantly to the ‘Zintl’ part during her Ph.D.

Unveiling the Potential of Redox Chemistry to Form Size-Tunable, High-Index Silicon Particles, M. A. Parker, S. Khaddad, N. Fares, A. Ghoridi, D. Portehault, S. Bonhommeau, Y. Amarouchene, P. Rosa, M. Gonidec, G. L Drisko, Chemisty of Materials, (2024)

A great achievement by Daniel during his Ph.D. work: We unveil a path in molten salts to transition metal silicoborides through structural transformations driven by boron-based covalent bonds. Specific charge transfer between atoms provide guidelines to design corrosion-resistant and Earth-abundant water oxidation electrocatalysts. Among a range of methods, we made extensive use of synchrotron-based in situ XRD in molten salts.

Covalent Transition Metal Borosilicides: Reaction Pathways in Molten Salts for Water Oxidation Electrocatalysis, D. Janisch, F. Igoa Saldaña, E. De Rolland Dalon, C. VM Inocêncio, Y. Song, P.-O. Autran, A. Miche, S. Casale, D. Portehault, Journal of the American Chemical Society,  146, 21824 (2024)

Last months have seen the achievements of two important works in the group, both related to the design of nano-objects with complex crystal structure and/or internal nanostructure:

The first one is the discovery of a new zinc and silicon compound that exhibits a new crystal structure, polar, which is of interest for photoelectrocatalytic water splitting. To solve the crystal structure we had to deploy a wide range of techniques, especially 3D electron diffraction. A nice collaboration with P. Boullay at CRISMAT, and with many others, including UCMadrid and other teams of the LCMCP and of Sorbonne Université.

Molten Salts-Driven Discovery of a Polar Mixed-Anion 3D framework at the nanoscale: Zn₄Si₂O₇Cl₂, Charge Transport and Photoelectrocatalytic Water Splitting
R. Kumar, Y. Song, A. Ghoridi, P. Boullay, G. Rousse, C. Gervais, C. Coelho Diogo, H. Kabbour, C. Sassoye, P. Beaunier, V. Castaing, B. Viana, M. L. Ruiz Gonzalez, J. Gonzalez Calbet, C. Laberty-Robert, D. Portehault*, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 135, e202303487 (2023)

The second milestone is the setup of a method to achieve core-shell nanoparticles made of intermetallic compounds, this case silicides, bearing strong covalency. To do so, we have developed an approach to control atomic diffusion into nanoparticles dispersed within molten salts. We have then shown that the core-shell structure impacts deeply electrocatalytic and magnetic properties. Beautiful work from Yang and Isabel, but also many others of the group and of collaborators from UCMadrid, SOLEIL synchrotron and Sorbonne Université.

Heterostructured Cobalt Silicide Nanocrystals: Synthesis in Molten Salts, Ferromagnetism, and Electrocatalysis, Y. Song, I. Gómez-Recio, A. Ghoridi, F. Igoa Saldaña, D. Janisch, C. Sassoye, V. Dupuis, D. Hrabovsky, M. L. Ruiz-González, J. M. González-Calbet, S. Casale, A. Zitolo, B. Lassalle-Kaiser, C. Laberty-Robert, D. Portehault*, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 145, 19207 (2023)