Inorganic Syntheses Assisted by Microwave Heating

Abstract

This Special Issue on "Inorganic Syntheses Assisted by Microwave Heating" represents one of the few fully dedicated issues on inorganic microwave synthesis published by any international scientific journal and it features five papers and one review article.Microwave irradiation has been used for many years to accelerate chemical reactions. The very first application of 2.45 GHz microwaves in processing began with heating and cooking food in kitchens all over the world. However, the use of microwaves in analytical laboratories began later, starting with drying organic and inorganic samples in order to determine the amount of moisture [1] and later it was used for the dissolution or decomposition of not only biological but also geological materials [2][3][4][5].Komarneni and Roy pioneered the use of microwaves in the liquid state for synthesis and published a seminal paper in Materials Letters in 1985 [6,7]. Unfortunately, the historical significance of this paper entitled "Titania gel spheres by a new sol-gel process" was not recognized by many as the title of this paper did not itself refer to microwaves. Nevertheless, the abstract clearly states that microwaves led to fast reaction as follows and we quote: "A new technique is devised for the preparation of solution derived titania gel spheres. The gel sphere preparation process involves the dispersal of the polymerized titanium ethoxide solution into a two-phase liquid suspension in kerosene followed by heating in a microwave oven. This is a simple and fast method for the preparation of xerogel spheres with diameter in the range of tens of micrometers which may be useful in coating technology by plasma-spraying". Gedye et al., 1986 [8] and Gigure et al., 1986 [9] may have been the first to report on the use of microwaves for organic syntheses in 1986. These two papers are generally recognized as pioneering OPEN ACCESS

Rapid and One‐Step Transformation of LiAlH4 to Inorganic and Organic Anion Intercalated Li‐Al Layered Double Hydroxides

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The intelligent and judicious choice of starting material/s is/are often the requirement in microwave assisted synthesis of inorganic solids. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The important advancements on the use of microwave assisted synthesis have been periodically documented in the literature. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Though clarity on the mechanism of these reactions and the nature of kinetics they follow has to evolve, its practical applicability for synthetic chemists has been unparallel.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The important advancements on the use of microwave assisted synthesis have been periodically documented in the literature. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Though clarity on the mechanism of these reactions and the nature of kinetics they follow has to evolve, its practical applicability for synthetic chemists has been unparallel. With the advent of nanoscience and nanotechnology, the terms "topdown" and "bottom-up" have come in to practice when dealing with synthesis of materials.…”

“…With the advancement of technology, conventional ways of synthesizing materials have undergone tremendous changes, being replaced rapidly with unconventional synthetic methods. Among the unconventional methods, use of microwaves has been time and again demonstrated to dramatically increase the reaction rates within very short durations to result in high crystalline products with high purity . The intelligent and judicious choice of starting material/s is/are often the requirement in microwave assisted synthesis of inorganic solids .…”

“…Among the unconventional methods, use of microwaves has been time and again demonstrated to dramatically increase the reaction rates within very short durations to result in high crystalline products with high purity . The intelligent and judicious choice of starting material/s is/are often the requirement in microwave assisted synthesis of inorganic solids . The important advancements on the use of microwave assisted synthesis have been periodically documented in the literature .…”

Microwave radiation influence on the thermal and spectroscopic properties of Na-birnessite-type material

“…These novel techniques include the sonochemical [2], solution combustion [3] and hydrothermal [4] synthesis. Another approach towards energy reduction and particle size is the combination of two or more unconventional and novel synthesis techniques, such as the use of microwave energy, giving rise to new microwave-assisted synthesis methods [5,6]. The microwave-assisted hydrothermal (MAH) synthesis of inorganic metal oxides has been intensified as a result of the advantages of this method in the production of nanometric materials (superconductors, catalysts, adsorbents, sensors, magnetic and ceramic materials) with controlled morphologies (nanowires, nanorods, nanofibers, etc.)…”