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Environmentally Friendly Growth of Layered K 4 Nb 6 O 17 Crystals from a KCl Flux
Author(s) -
Teshima Katsuya,
Niina Yuki,
Yubuta Kunio,
Suzuki Takaomi,
Ishizawa Nobuo,
Shishido Toetsu,
Oishi Shuji
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
european journal of inorganic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1099-0682
pISSN - 1434-1948
DOI - 10.1002/ejic.200700493
Subject(s) - chemistry , crystallinity , evaporation , orthorhombic crystal system , supersaturation , potassium , flux (metallurgy) , crystal (programming language) , transmission electron microscopy , photocatalysis , flux method , crystal growth , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemical engineering , crystallography , crystal structure , single crystal , organic chemistry , catalysis , engineering , physics , computer science , programming language , thermodynamics
Environmentally friendly, high‐quality layered K 4 Nb 6 O 17 crystals were easily grown by two different flux methods involving supersaturation, that is, flux evaporation and cooling of the solution. To fabricate them, potassium chloride (KCl) was chosen as the flux. Transparent and colorless plate‐like layered crystals of K 4 Nb 6 O 17 were prepared with well‐developed {010} faces of the orthorhombic system. The crystal sizes obviously depended on the evaporation loss (evaporation method), the holding temperature, and the cooling rate (cooling method). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the grown plate‐like crystals were of a very good crystallinity. The major constituents were homogeneously distributed throughout them. The crystals exhibited good photocatalytic activity under ultraviolet light irradiation. Potassium chloride was found to be a very suitable flux for the environmentally friendly growth of photocatalytic K 4 Nb 6 O 17 crystals. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2007)