Inorganic Solid State and Materials Chemistry

In the group of Professor Ruck numerous classical as well as innovative methods are applied for the synthesis and thorough characterization of new inorganic solids. Possible applications as high-tech materials are assessed. The spectrum of synthetic methods comprises besides high-temperature solid-state reactions and crystal growth from melt or solution also chemical transport reactions as well as low-temperature syntheses in Ionic Liquids or by the microwave-assisted polyol process. Special competence is available in the fields of crystallographic structure determination, crystal chemistry, thermal analysis, and analysis of the chemical bonding in solids by quantum-chemical calculations. Currently we are focusing on three main topics:

(1) Energy Efficient Low-Temperature Synthesis of Metallic Materials

Multi-component metallic materials (alloys, intermetallics) are typically gained by metallurgical processes like high-temperature melting or sintering at 500 °C to 2000 °C. We are developing methods for their chemical synthesis at 20 °C to 250 °C. Besides the effects of energy saving, the new technology raises possibilities for the design of hybrid materials with thermolabile components. In addition, yet unknown or hardly accessible phases can be synthesized.

(2) Innovative Material Concepts for Nano- and Molecular Electronics

The progressive miniaturization in microelectronics, which is the basis of our information and communication technology, will be confronted with several fundamental physical barriers within the next two decades. Integrated circuits with structure widths significantly below 30 nanometers will need novel and still unknown technological concepts. We are exploring the material base of conductors structured at the level of 1 to 5 nanometers, which we address as confined metals. Promising species are metal-rich compounds, inherently structured into conducting and insulating regions, ordered superstructures of metallic nano-wires or metallic nano-tubes. An associated area of fundamental interest is the investigation of the competition and interplay between electronic delocalization and localization in confined metals. Thereby, we discovered besides numerous new chemical compounds also extraordinary quantum phenomena, such as the coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity, which are generated by nanostructuring of intermetallic phases.

(3) “Exotic Novelties” with Extraordinary Properties

One of the basic tasks of a chemist is the search for the unknown matter. The exploration of nature’s diversity for novel compounds with unforeseeable properties is challenging as well as highly fascinating. Discoveries may concern structure, chemical bonding, and physical properties. We are looking, for example, for new bonding situations in heavy-element systems with strong spin-orbit coupling, magnetic materials with polar crystal structure or frustrated ground state, semiconductors with additional high ion mobility, and unconventional superconductors. Only few of these discoveries will become materials for real applications, but all of them contribute to our knowledge of the universe.

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