TY - JOUR A1 - Lange, M. A. A1 - Khan, I. A1 - Opitz, P. A1 - Hartmann, J: A1 - Ashraf, M. A1 - Qurashi, A. A1 - Prädel, L. A1 - Panthöfer, M. A1 - Cossmer, Antje A1 - Pfeifer, Jens A1 - Simon, Fabian A1 - von der Au, Marcus A1 - Meermann, Björn A1 - Mondeshki, M. A1 - Tahir, M. N. A1 - Tremel, W. T1 - A Generalized Method for High-Speed Fluorination of Metal Oxides by Spark Plasma Sintering Yields Ta3O7F and TaO2F with High Photocatalytic Activity for Oxygen Evolution from Water JF - Advanced Materials N2 - A general method to carry out the fluorination of metal oxides with poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE, Teflon) waste by spark plasma sintering (SPS) on a minute scale with Teflon is reported. The potential of this new approach is highlighted by the following results. i) The tantalum oxyfluorides Ta3O7F and TaO2F are obtained from plastic scrap without using toxic or caustic chemicals for fluorination. ii) Short reaction times (minutes rather than days) reduce the process time the energy costs by almost three orders of magnitude. iii) The oxyfluorides Ta3O7F and TaO2F are produced in gram amounts of nanoparticles. Their synthesis can be upscaled to the kg range with industrial sintering equipment. iv) SPS processing changes the catalytic properties: while conventionally prepared Ta3O7F and TaO2F show little catalytic activity, SPS-prepared Ta3O7F and TaO2F exhibit high activity for photocatalytic oxygen evolution, reaching photoconversion efficiencies up to 24.7% and applied bias to photoconversion values of 0.86%. This study shows that the materials properties are dictated by the processing which poses new challenges to understand and predict the underlying factors. KW - Fluorination KW - Oxygen evolution reaction KW - Photocatalysis KW - Spark plasma sintering KW - Tantalum oxyfluorides PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-524329 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202007434 VL - 23 IS - 20 SP - 7434 PB - Wiley‐VCH GmbH AN - OPUS4-52432 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lange, M. A. A1 - Khan, I. A1 - Dören, R. A1 - Ashraf, M. A1 - Qurashi, A. A1 - Prädel, L. A1 - Panthöfer, M. A1 - von der Au, Marcus A1 - Cossmer, Antje A1 - Pfeifer, Jens A1 - Meermann, Björn A1 - Mondeshki, M. A1 - Tahir, M. N. A1 - Tremel, W. T1 - High-speed solid state fluorination of Nb2O5 yields NbO2F and Nb3O7F with photocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution from water JF - Dalton Transactions N2 - Solid state reactions are slow because the diffusion of atoms or ions through the reactant, intermediate and crystalline product phases is the rate-limiting step. This requires days or even weeks of high temperature treatment, and consumption of large amounts of energy. We employed spark-plasma sintering, an engineering technique that is used for high-speed consolidation of powders with a pulsed Electric current passing through the sample to carry out the fluorination of niobium oxide in minute intervals. The approach saves time and large amounts of waste energy. Moreover, it allows the preparation of fluorinated niobium oxides on a gram scale using poly (tetrafluoroethylene) (®Teflon) scrap and without toxic chemicals. The synthesis can be upscaled easily to the kg range with appropriate sintering equipment. Finally, NbO2F and Nb3O7F prepared by spark plasma sintering show significant photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) oxygen evolution from water in terms of photocurrent density and incident photon-to-current Efficiency (% IPCE), whereas NbO2F and Nb3O7F prepared by conventional high temperature chemistry show little to no PEC response. Our study is a proof of concept for the quick, clean and energy saving production of valuable photocatalysts from plastic waste. KW - Fluorination KW - Nb2O5, NbO2F, Nb3O7F KW - Photocatalytic activity PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d1dt00533b VL - 50 IS - 19 SP - 6528 EP - 6538 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-52439 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Opitz, P. A1 - Asta, M. A1 - Fernandez-Martinez, A. A1 - Panthöfer, M. A1 - Kabelitz, Anke A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Mondeshki, M. A1 - Tremel, W. T1 - Monitoring a Mechanochemical Syntheses of Isostructural Luminescent Cocrystals of 9-Anthracenecarboxylic Acid with two Dipyridines Coformers JF - Crystal Growth and Design N2 - Amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) is an important precursor in the biomineralization of crystalline CaCO3. In nature, it serves as a storage material or as a permanent structural element, whose lifetime is regulated by an organic matrix. The relevance of ACC in materials science is primarily related to our understanding of CaCO3 crystallization pathways and CaCO3/(bio)polymer nanocomposites. ACC can be synthesized by liquid–liquid phase separation, and it is typically stabilized with macromolecules. We have prepared ACC by milling calcite in a planetary ball mill. Phosphate “impurities” were added in the form of monetite (CaHPO4) to substitute the carbonate anions, thereby stabilizing ACC by substitutional disorder. The phosphate anions do not simply replace the carbonate anions. They undergo shear-driven acid/base and condensation reactions, where stoichiometric (10%) phosphate contents are required for the amorphization to be complete. The phosphate anions generate a strained network that hinders ACC recrystallization kinetically. The amorphization reaction and the structure of BM-ACC were studied by quantitative Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and solid state 31P, 13C, and 1H magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which are highly sensitive to symmetry changes of the local environment. In the first—and fast—reaction step, the CO32– anions are protonated by the HPO42– groups. The formation of unprecedented hydrogen carbonate (HCO3–) and orthophosphate anions appears to be the driving force of the reaction, because the phosphate group has a higher Coulomb energy and the tetrahedral PO43– unit can fill space more efficiently. In a competing second—and slow—reaction step, pyrophosphate anions are formed in a condensation reaction. No pyrophosphates are formed at higher carbonate contents. High strain leads to such a large energy barrier that any reaction is suppressed. Our findings aid in the understanding of the mechanochemical amorphization of calcium carbonate and emphasize the effect of impurities for the stabilization of the amorphous phases in general. Our approach allowed the synthesis of new amorphous alkaline earth defect variants containing the unique HCO3– anion. Our approach outlines a general strategy to obtain new amorphous solids for a variety of carbonate/phosphate systems that offer promise as biomaterials for bone regeneration. KW - Crystallization KW - Mechanochemistry KW - PDF PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.0c00912 VL - 20 IS - 10 SP - 6831 EP - 6846 PB - American Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-51819 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Opitz, P. A1 - Besch, L. A1 - Panthöfer, M. A1 - Kabelitz, Anke A1 - Unger, R. A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Mondeshki, M. A1 - Tremel, W. T1 - Insights into the In Vitro Formation of Apatite from Mg‐Stabilized Amorphous Calcium Carbonate JF - Advanced Functional Materials N2 - A protein‐free formation of bone‐like apatite from amorphous precursors through ball‐milling is reported. Mg2+ ions are crucial to achieve full amorphization of CaCO3. Mg2+ incorporation generates defects which strongly retard a recrystallization of ball‐milled Mg‐doped amorphous calcium carbonate (BM‐aMCC), which promotes the growth of osteoblastic and endothelial cells in simulated body fluid and has no effect on endothelial cell gene expression. Ex situ snapshots of the processes revealed the reaction mechanisms. For low Mg contents (<30%) a two phase system consisting of Mg‐doped amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) and calcite “impurities” was formed. For high (>40%) Mg2+ contents, BM‐aMCC follows a different crystallization path via magnesian calcite and monohydrocalcite to aragonite. While pure ACC crystallizes rapidly to calcite in aqueous media, Mg‐doped ACC forms in the presence of phosphate ions bone‐like hydroxycarbonate apatite (dahllite), a carbonate apatite with carbonate substitution in both type A (OH−) and type B (PO43−) sites, which grows on calcite “impurities” via heterogeneous nucleation. This process produces an endotoxin‐free material and makes BM‐aMCC an excellent “ion storage buffer” that promotes cell growth by stimulating cell viability and metabolism with promising applications in the treatment of bone defects and bone degenerative diseases. KW - Total Scattering KW - XRD KW - Mechanochemistry PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202007830 VL - 31 IS - 3 SP - 7830 PB - Wiley VHC-Verlag AN - OPUS4-51761 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -