Synthesis of ultra-refractory transition metal diboride compounds

Synthesis of ultra-incompressible superhard rhenium diboride at ambient pressure.

The quest to create superhard materials rarely strays from the use of high-pressure synthetic methods, which typically require gigapascals of applied pressure. We report that rhenium diboride (ReB2), synthesized in bulk quantities via arc-melting under ambient pressure, rivals materials produced with high-pressure methods. Microindentation measurements on ReB2 indicated an average hardness of 4...

comparison of catalytic activity of heteropoly compounds in the synthesis of bis(indolyl)alkanes.

heteropoly acids (hpa) and their salts have advantages as catalysts which make them both economically and environmentally attractive, strong br?nsted acidity, exhibiting fast reversible multi-electron redox transformations under rather mild conditions, very high solubility in polar solvents, fairly high thermal stability in the solid states, and efficient oxidizing ability, so that they are imp...

Transition Metal Compounds Towards Holography

We have successfully proposed the application of transition metal compounds in holographic recording media. Such compounds feature an ultra-fast light-induced linkage isomerization of the transition-metal-ligand bond with switching times in the sub-picosecond regime and lifetimes from microseconds up to hours at room temperature. This article highlights the photofunctionality of two of the most...

Suitability of ultra-refractory diboride ceramics as absorbers for solar energy applications

Ultra-refractory diborides are currently studied mainly as thermal protection materials for aerospace and military applications. However, their favourable properties (very high melting points and good thermo-mechanical properties at high temperatures) can be advantageously exploited to increase the operating temperature of thermodynamic solar plants in concentrating solar power systems. This pa...

Photochemistry of Transition Metal Coordination Compounds