Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 2, 2025

08:54
Synthesis and Exfoliation of Discotic Zirconium Phosphates to Obtain Colloidal Liquid Crystals
Published on: May 25, 2016
8.6K
HF-Free synthesis of colloidal Cs2ZrF6 and (NH4)2ZrF6 nanocrystals
Eden Tzanetopoulos1, Julie Schwartz1, Daniel R Gamelin1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195-1700, USA. gamelin@uw.edu.
Abstract:
A solution-phase synthesis of colloidally stable A2BF6 nanocrystals is reported for the first time, focusing on A+ = Cs+, NH4+ and B4+ = Zr4+. Handling hypertoxic HF is avoided by using NH4F and a low-boiling-point alcohol, representing the first synthesis of any A2BF6 nanocrystals without HF addition. The chemical incompatability of Zr4+ with other common fluoride sources is discussed.

