Molecularly Engineered Lithium–Chromium Alkoxide for Selective Synthesis of LiCrO2 and Li2CrO4 Nanomaterials

Achieving control over the phase-selective synthesis of mixed metal oxide materials remains a challenge to the synthetic chemist due to diffusion-driven growth, which necessitates the search for new compounds with pre-existent chemical bonds between the phase-forming elements. We report here a simple solvothermal process to fabricate LiCrO 2 and Li 2CrO 4 nanoparticles from bimetallic single-source precursors, demonstrating the distinctive influence of molecular design and calcination conditions on the resulting nanomaterials. The chemical identity of [Li 2Cr(O tBu) 4Cl(THF) 2] ( 1) and [LiCr(O tBu) 2(PyCH=COCF 3) 2(THF) 2] ( 2) was unambiguously established in the solid state by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, revealing the formation of a coordination polymeric chain in compound 1, whereas electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) studies revealed a monomeric structure in solution. TEM analysis of synthesized LiCrO 2 nanoparticles showed nearly uniform particles size of approximately 20 nm. The sensitivity of the LiCrO 2 phase towards oxidation was investigated by X-ray diffraction, revealing the formation of the stable Li 2CrO 4 after calcination in air. View Full-Tex