Oregon lab changes game for synthesizing new materials

University of Oregon chemist David C. Johnson likens his lab’s newly published accomplishments to combining two flavors of ice cream — vanilla and chocolate — and churning out thousands of flavors to appeal to any taste bud.

In reality, though, he is referring to his game-changing approach to synthesize thousands of new compounds with ultra low thermal conductivity and other unusual properties quickly instead of the traditional and time-consuming preparative approach that is limited to just a few thermodynamically stable compounds.

In a paper placed online ahead of print publication by the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Johnson’s eight-member team documented their design of layered elemental precursors that when lightly warmed self assemble into 18 new nano-sized and metastable compounds with predictable nano-architectures and specific crystallographic orientations.

Until recently, the design and synthesis of crystalline materials in solid-state inorganic chemistry has been very limited because creating them has required heating at high temperatures for long periods, with little control of the reaction pathway. Johnson’s new approach is a paradigm change.

In reality, though, he is referring to his game-changing approach to synthesize thousands of new compounds with ultra low thermal conductivity and other unusual properties quickly instead of the traditional and time-consuming preparative approach that is limited to just a few thermodynamically stable compounds.

In a paper placed online ahead of print publication by the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Johnson’s eight-member team documented their design of layered elemental precursors that when lightly warmed self assemble into 18 new nano-sized and metastable compounds with predictable nano-architectures and specific crystallographic orientations.

Until recently, the design and synthesis of crystalline materials in solid-state inorganic chemistry has been very limited because creating them has required heating at high temperatures for long periods, with little control of the reaction pathway. Johnson’s new approach is a paradigm change.

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