Abstract
The synthesis of YBa2Cu3O7−x (YBCO or 123) was carried out via the use of a variety of deep eutectic solvents (DESs), all formed by the interaction of choline hydroxide (as the cation source) and alkyl carboxylic acids with CnH2n+1 ranging from n = 2 to n = 10, namely acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, pentanoic acid, nonanoic acid, and decanoic acid, as providers of the anion, all prepared in equimolar solutions. The behaviour of the synthetic media and the resulting morphology displayed by the crystallite product, using different molar ratios of DESs (X):1 YBaCu metal nitrates mixes, with x values of 20 ≤ x ≤ 60, is also reported. Synthetic performance results show a tendency to generate higher total phase percentage of the desired crystal with the increase of the alkyl chain length of the carboxylic acid up to butyric acid (92% belonging to the metal oxide), after which no enhancement was observed. Furthermore, the synthetic performance of the remaining, i.e., DES formed with pentanoic acid to decanoic acid, displayed a constant decay in total desired phase percentage belonging to the metal oxide. Morphological results were also analysed for all DESs (X):1 YBaCu metal nitrates mixes, with x values of 20 ≤ x ≤ 60. Well defined plate-like particles were generally observed however, in some cases fused plate-like particles of significantly bigger size were observed.
Highlights
Metal oxides are a type of material that has plethora of applications, scientist world-wide have generated numerous synthetic routes of producing them [1]
Despite the fact that the ionic liquid (IL)/deep eutectic solvents (DESs) can provide chemical flexibility, with the IL/DES being produced by diverse chemical reactants [19,20], the capability to chelate and upkeep in solution metal cations [21], and their thermal stability [22], no study, to the extent of our knowledge, has been done to explore the synthesis of metal oxides while generating variations in the resulting morphology of the crystal, by varying sizes of the anion employed to form the IL/DES, and dehydrating the initial solution, composed of the IL/DES and dissolved metal nitrates, at different temperatures, generating dissimilarities into the self-assembled structure being produced between the IL/DES and the metal nanoparticle, which upon calcination could deliver significant differences of the crystallite obtained
Several DES were synthesised with the purpose of analysing their synthetic performance of the synthesis of a metal oxide, with emphasis on the effect of the size of the anion composing the DES, and the total phase percentage obtained of the desired functional material
Summary
Metal oxides are a type of material that has plethora of applications, scientist world-wide have generated numerous synthetic routes of producing them [1]. Despite the fact that the IL/DES can provide chemical flexibility, with the IL/DES being produced by diverse chemical reactants [19,20], the capability to chelate and upkeep in solution metal cations [21], and their thermal stability [22], no study, to the extent of our knowledge, has been done to explore the synthesis of metal oxides while generating variations in the resulting morphology of the crystal, by varying sizes of the anion employed to form the IL/DES, and dehydrating the initial solution, composed of the IL/DES and dissolved metal nitrates, at different temperatures, generating dissimilarities into the self-assembled structure being produced between the IL/DES and the metal nanoparticle, which upon calcination could deliver significant differences of the crystallite obtained. After calcination and collection of the sample, the product was characterised via powder X-ray diffraction patterns, and scanning electron microscopy images
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