Hydrothermal synthesis of delafossite-type oxides

The syntheses of copper and silver delafossite-type oxides from their constituent binary metal oxides, oxide hydroxides and hydroxides, by low temperature (<210 °C) and low pressure (<20 atm) hydrothermal reactions are described. Particular emphasis is placed on how the acid-base character of a constituent oxide determines its solubility and therefore whether a particular delafossite-type oxide can be synthesized, a strategy utilized by geologists and mineralogists to understand the conditions necessary for the synthesis of various minerals. Thus, the geochemical and corrosion science literature are shown to be useful in understanding the reaction conditions required for the syntheses of delafossite-type oxides and the relationship between reactant metal oxide acid-base character, solubility, aqueous speciation, and product formation. Manipulation of the key parameters, temperature, pressure, pH, and reactant solubility, results in broad families of phase-pure delafossite-type oxides in moderate to high yields for copper, CuBO ₂ (B = Al, Sc, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ga, and Rh), and silver, AgBO ₂ (B = Al, Sc, Fe, Co, Ni, Ga, Rh, In, and Tl).