Solvation, Transport and Rapid Reaction Routes

Approach : Increase diffusion rates in order to lower reaction temperatures and/or speed reactions using one of the following approaches:

Synthesis from the Melt - melting the reactants

Molten Salt Fluxes & Hydrothermal - dissolving the reactants in a solvent

Chemical Transport - using a transport gas to carry the reactants into the gas phase

Solid State Metathesis - inducing a high temperature, self sustaining reaction

Advantages : These approaches allow one to use lower reaction temperatures and/or shorter reaction times. Consequently, they afford many of the same advantages as precursor routes, such as stabilization of metastable phases and high cation oxidation states. Solid state metathesis reactions do not involve lower reaction temperatures, but they can lead to rapid formation of products, and production of high surface area products.