Molecular engineering for the smart functional heterometallic fluoride and –oxide nanomaterials
Résumé
This presentation is dedicated to the synthesis of smart functional inorganic materials, namely heterometallic oxides and -fluorides by ‘bottom-up approach’ for the applications in energy, optics and catalysis. It describes designed heterometallic “single-source” precursors which are converted into nanomaterials by sol-gel, MOD or MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition) processes. These precursors, which have a formulation matching those of the materials (e.g., the stoichiometry between metals for multimetallic materials), appropriate physicochemical properties and required chemical functionalities, allow clean and low temperature conversion into materials while minimizing the formation of undesired by-products. Tailoring of the metal coordination sphere by an appropriate set of ligands (alkoxides, carboxylates or beta-diketonates) allows tuning of the properties and access to well-defined precursors. Their use provides a way for establishing relationships between precursors and the final material and to get some insight in their transformation. Nanomaterials that convert near IR radiation to UV-visble light as well as those converting thermal energy into electricity will be discussed in particular.