title: Micro- to macroscopic observations of MnAlPO-5 nanocrystal growth in ionic-liquid media.
abstract: Micro- and macroscopic studies of nucleation and growth processes of MnAlPO-5 nanosized crystals under ionothermal synthesis conditions are reported herein. The samples treated at 150 °C were extracted from the reaction mixture at various stages of crystallization, and characterized by XRD; SEM; thermogravimetric analysis (TGA); (31)P and (27)Al solid-state magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR, Raman, UV/Vis, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). The starting raw materials (alumina, manganese, and phosphorous) were dissolved completely in the ionic liquid and transformed into an amorphous solid after 5 h of ionothermal treatment. This amorphous solid then undergoes structural changes over the following 5-25 h, which result in an intermediate phase that consists of octahedral Al species linked to the manganese and phosphate species. The first MnAlPO-5 nuclei on the surface of the intermediate can be observed after 50 h ionoheating. These nuclei further grow, as the surface of the intermediate is in full contact with the ionic liquid, to give crystalline MnAlPO-5 nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 80 nm. The crystals become fully detached from the intermediate and are then liberated as discrete particles after 90 h heating. The transformation process from amorphous to intermediate and then to the crystalline MnAlPO-5 nanoparticles shows that nucleation starts at the solid-liquid interface and continues through surface-to-core reversed-growth until the entire amorphous solid is transformed into discrete nanocrystals.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Eng-Poh
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Lama
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Itani
authors.forename: Satpal Singh
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Sekhon
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mintova