Rationally designed materials through kinetically controlled synthesis
Abstract
Innovative strategies for the synthesis of novel materials are needed to provide transformational impacts to a wide variety of strategic applications. The number of hypothetical but energetically feasible materials far outweighs the number of known thermodynamically stable materials, thus, it is likely that the materials properties desired for a specific application exist in a realm beyond the ground state. Recently, we have developed experimental and computational methodologies to transform high-energy molecular precursors into a variety of extended networks with varying properties. These transformations are facilitated by elevated density (pressure) and involve the transition from molecular solids with predominantly van der Waals-type interactions to extended covalent networks. Remarkably, some of these transformations result in the formation of new single-crystalline or paracrystalline materials, indicating topochemical relationships that can be tailored to design metastable materials with desired functionalities. These results suggest rational design principles for kinetically-controlled synthesis and provide pathways to previously-inaccessible materials with unique structural, energetic and multifunctional properties. Here we propose a systematic investigation of kinetically-controlled synthesis pathways using experiment and theory, which will pave the way to an era of unprecedented synthetic control over structure-property relations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 11, 2018
- Source ID
- W911NF1710604
Entities
People
- Timothy Strobel
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Carnegie Institution for Science
- United States Army