One-Step Mechanochemical Synthesis of Nanostructured and Non-Equilibrium Complex Oxides

The present chapter demonstrates that various families of nanostructured complex oxides (germanate, molybdate, silicate, stannate, aluminate, ferrite, gallate) in a highly non-equilibrium state with a variety of structure types (spinel, olivine, perovskite, etc.) can be prepared in a single mechanochemical process, namely, via the one-step high-energy milling. A very facile and efficient mechanochemical synthesis route performed at ambient temperature in air results in complex nanooxides directly from their precursors, without the need for solvents and/or calcination under controlled oxygen fugacity. The non-uniform nanostructure with the distorted constituent polyhedra and the far-from-equilibrium cation arrangement of the mechanochemically synthesized nanooxides as well as their unusual functional properties and thermal stability shall also be highlighted.