Soft chemical control to achieve new layered architectures and strongly correlated states.

固态化学涉及（通常）结晶固体（类似矿物的化合物）的合成及其组成的优化，以实现特定的物理或化学性质，如导电性或磁性。通常这些化合物在高温下合成，使得离子迁移率足够高以进行反应。在这种合成的热力学控制下，可用于元素的特定组合的组成范围可能受到限制。因此，补充低温（例如在室温下，或甚至低于室温）合成是改变化学组成的另一种方式，并且这可以使得能够获得更宽范围的化学组成。如果化合物支持其组成离子中的一些的高迁移率，则低温化学（通常为嵌入或脱嵌）是可能的。这里提出的工作开始于一系列层状过渡金属化合物的脱嵌化学是可能的，并且确实对电子性质有深远的影响。目标化合物的组成调整可以连续进行，并在很宽的组成范围。选择这些化合物中的过渡金属和二维晶体结构，以便产生强相关电子系统，其中由于几个竞争因素，电子行为不容易预测，并且经常发现不寻常的电子现象，例如超导性，磁阻，高热电功率和金属-绝缘体转变。我们将探索如何将化学应用于化合物的大晶体，以便更好地了解它们的微观特性。

Solid state chemistry involves the synthesis of (normally) crystalline solids (compounds resembling minerals) and optimisation of their compositions so as to realise particular physical or chemical properties, such as conductivity or magnetism. Often these compounds are synthesised at high temperatures so that the ionic mobility is high enough for the reactions to proceed. Under this thermodynamic control of the synthesis the range of compositions available for a particular combination of elements may be limited. So complementary low temperature (e.g. at room temperature, or even below) syntheses are another way of changing the chemical composition and this may enable a wider range of chemical compositions to be attained. The low temperature chemistry, normally an intercalation or a deintercalation, is possible if the compound supports high mobility of some of its constituent ions. The work proposed here starts from the demonstration that deintercalation chemistry of a series of layered transition metal compounds is possible and does have profound effects on the electronic properties. The targets are compounds where compositional tuning may be carried out continuously and over a wide compositional range. The transition metals in these compounds and the two-dimensional crystal structures have been chosen so as to yield strongly-correlated-electron systems where the electronic behaviour is not easy to predict due to several competing factors, and where unusual electronic phenomena, such as superconductivity, magnetoresistance, high thermoelectric power and metal-to-insulator transitions are often found. In addition to producing new compositions, we will explore ways in which the chemistry can be applied to large crystals of the compounds in order to give better insight into their microscopic properties.