Structural characterization by single crystal or micro/nanocrystalline powder diffraction of frontier compounds of interest for Materials Science.
Structure solution and refinement of new challenging crystalline materials of high-impact in the Energy sector (e.g. 2D perovskites) by single crystal or micro/nanocrystalline powder diffraction and study of the structure-property relationship.
The discovery of new materials has marked the history and the level of human civilization. In recent decades, the interest in new materials with unique optoelectronic properties such as, for example. perovskites, has grown considerably to meet the demand for compounds with exceptional properties and ever lower costs.
The creative work of scientists expert in crystal engineering, aimed at the crystallization of new materials with interesting technological applications, requires the support of a crystallographic study by single crystal and /or micro/nanocrystalline powder diffraction. This investigation, carried out using SIR2019 (single crystal) or EXPO2014 (powders) software, allows to determine the crystal structure and, therefore, to verify if it coincides with the expected structure and to know the crystalline packing, to identify the main intermolecular interactions and the structure-property relationship.
The multidecadal experience in the field of Crystallography (methods and applications) of the research group involved in this activity allows to carry out the structural characterization of new materials even in the case of crystals particularly complicated to be studied (e.g., due to their small size or their low crystallinity), which, thanks to robust collaboration with national and international synchrotrons, can be successfully investigated by synchrotron radiation.
– Ray, A., Martín-García, B., Moliterni, A., Casati, N., Boopathi, K. M., Spirito, D., Goldoni, L., Prato, M., Giacobbe, C., Giannini, C., Di Stasio, F. , Krahne, R., Manna, L., Abdelhady, A. L. (2021). ’Mixed Dimethylammonium/Methylammonium Lead Halide Perovskite Crystals for Improved Structural Stability and Enhanced Photodetection’, Adv. Mater. 34, 2106160. DOI:10.1002/adma.202106160
– Polimeno, L., Lerario, G., De Giorgi, M., De Marco, L., Dominici, L., Todisco, F., Coriolano, A., Ardizzone, V., Pugliese, M., Prontera, C. T., Maiorano, V., Moliterni, A., Giannini, C., Olieric, V., Gigli, G., Ballarini, D., Xiong, Q., Fieramosca, A., Solnyshkov, D., Malpuech, G., Sanvitto, D. (2021). ’Tuning of the Berry curvature in 2D perovskite polaritons’, Nat. Nanotechnol. 16, 1349-1354. DOI:10.1038/s41565-021-00977-2
– Cinquino, M., Fieramosca, A., Mastria, R., Polimeno, L., Moliterni, A., Olieric, V., Matsugaki, N., Panico, R., De Giorgi, M., Gigli, G., Giannini, C., Rizzo, A., Sanvitto, D., De Marco, L. (2021). ’Managing Growth And Dimensionality of Quasi 2D Perovskite Single-Crystalline Flakes For Tunable Excitons Orientation’, Adv. Mater. 33, 2102326. DOI:10.1002/adma.02102326
– Dhanabalan, B., Biffi, G., Moliterni, A., Olieric, V., Giannini, C., Saleh, G., Ponet, L., Prato, M., Imran, M., Manna, L., Krahne, R., Artyukhin, S., Arciniegas, M. P. (2021). ’Engineering the Optical Emission and Robustness of Metal-Halide Layered Perovskites through Ligand Accommodation’, Adv. Mater. 33, 2008004. DOI:10.1002/adma.202008004