Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanomaterials and Structures

Among various methods for synthesizing nanomaterials and nanostructures, hydrothermal synthesis is a powerful one. Hydrothermal synthesis can control the growth of materials into multidimension shapes including nanoparticles, nanofibers, thin films, cubes, domes, etc. Since hydrothermal synthesis is a solution reaction-based approach, the reaction can be very fast, with the formation of nanomaterials and structures happening in a relatively wide temperature range from room temperature to elevated temperatures. To control the morphology of the materials to be prepared, either low-pressure or high-pressure conditions can be used depending on whether the temperature and pressure are coupled or not. The vapor pressure of the main composition in the reaction is one of the important parameters determining the synthesis conditions. Hydrothermal synthesis has been applied for making various functional materials for energy and environmental sustainability.

Heterogeneous chemical reactions occur in closed vessels holding solvents during hydrothermal synthesis. Hydrothermal synthesis makes it possible to generate nanomaterials which are not stable at elevated temperatures. Nanomaterials with high vapor pressures can be obtained by the hydrothermal method with minimum loss of raw materials. The goal of this Research Topic is to introduce the recent advances in chemical reaction research associated with the hydrothermal synthesis process. To achieve this goal, the following objectives are set: (1) To understand the heterogeneous reaction mechanisms under high temperature and high pressure conditions; (2) To present the related thermochemical reaction kinetics and simulation research results; (3) To show the power of combining this method with other techniques such as microwave enhanced reaction methods; (4) To show examples of functional nanomaterials and structures made by this method; (5) To illustrate catalyst effect in hydrothermal synthesis.

The Research Topic will also cover how to control the compositions of nanomaterials to be synthesized through liquid phase or multiphase chemical reactions in hydrothermal synthesis

This Research Topics welcomes submissions based on, but not limited to, the following themes:
• How to use hydrothermal synthesis to process nanoparticles, nanorods, nanotubes, hollow nanospheres, and graphene nanosheets
• New synthesis methods, for example, ultrasonic coupled and microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis
• Template-free self-assembling catalytic synthesis of multidimensional or aligned structures
• Nanomaterials and structures for applications such as plasmonic generation, energy harvesting, sensing, environment cleaning
• Hydrothermal synthesis for recycling waste materials to achieve environment protection

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Keywords: Hydrothermal synthesis, nanomaterials, nanostructures, energy sustainability, environment protection

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.