Abstract
Recently we have shown the importance of hypergolic reactions in carbon materials synthesis. However, hypergolic reactions could be certainly expanded beyond carbon synthesis, offering a general preparative pathway towards a larger variety of materials. Cyclopentadienyls are one of the most common ligands in organometallic chemistry that react hypergolicly on contact with strong oxidizers. By also considering the plethora of cyclopentadienyl compounds existing today, herein we demonstrate the potential of such compounds in hypergolic materials synthesis in general (carbon or inorganic). In a first example, we show that cyclopentadienyllithium reacts hypergolicly with fuming nitric acid to produce carbon. In a second one, we show that ferrocene and cobaltocene also react hypergolicly with the concentrated acid to afford magnetic inorganic materials, such as γ-Fe2O3 and metallic Co, respectively. The present results further emphasize the importance and universal character of hypergolic reactions in materials science synthesis, as an interesting new alternative to other existing and well-established preparative methods.
Highlights
In hypergolic reactions, two chemical reagents ignite spontaneously upon contact to liberate energy and gases in a non-explosive manner
Synthesis was conducted in a fume hood with ceramic tile bench
A fine carbon powder was obtained at a yield of 2%, compared to the weight of the cyclopentadienyl compound used for reaction (N2 specific surface area: 225 m2 g−1 )
Summary
Two chemical reagents ignite spontaneously upon contact to liberate energy and gases in a non-explosive manner. It is only lately that hypergolics has been introduced as a new synthesis tool in materials science, for the fast and spontaneous preparation of carbon materials at ambient conditions in an energy liberating manner [1,2,3,4,5] For this purpose, an organic compound serving as the carbon source and a strong oxidizer were spontaneously ignited upon contact at room temperature and atmospheric pressure to afford carbon without the need of any external source of heat (e.g., baking oven, hydrothermal treatment, or chemical vapor deposition). An organic compound serving as the carbon source and a strong oxidizer were spontaneously ignited upon contact at room temperature and atmospheric pressure to afford carbon without the need of any external source of heat (e.g., baking oven, hydrothermal treatment, or chemical vapor deposition) In this respect, hypergolic synthesis should be regarded as an energy-liberating rather than an energy-consuming process. Typical paradigms developed from our group within this context include carbon nanosheets directly derived from self-ignitable lithium dialkylamides salts [1], highly crystalline graphite through
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
