CENTENNIAL HONORS COLLEGE
Western Illinois University
Undergraduate Research Day 2016
PosterPresentation
SynthesisofMnVTe2Q8(Q=S,Se,andTe)Material
KillianTracey
FacultyMentor:BrianBellott
ForensicChemistry
Recently a three dimensional vanadium tellurite was synthesized. This material caught our attention
duetoitsantiferromagneticbehavior.Antiferromagneticmaterialshavemanyapplications,butweare
focused on giant magnetoresistance. Giant magnetoresistance is observed in thin films of materials
whichhavealteringlayersofmagneticmaterialsandnon-magneticconductivelayers.Theyhavemany
differentapplicationsoneofwhichisdatastorage.Thereportedsynthesisreliesontheuseofoxidesto
join each layer together via either Ga-Ox layers of VOx layers. It is our goal to synthesize a material
whichiscrosslinkedbyQxlayers.Thechalcogenides(Q,Q=S,Se,andTe)areelementsintheoxygen
family.Althoughthechalcogenidesoftenhavesimilarreactivitytooxygentheydifferononeimportant
aspect.Whereoxygennormallydoesnotformbondswithitself,therestofthechalcogenidesdoform
bondswiththemselves.ThisallowsforanetworktobeformedusingQ-Qbondinginsteadofhavingto
bridgethroughotheratoms.Thesynthesisofthesematerialsrequiresseveralsteps.Firstthereaction
vessels must be made and coated with carbon. Then the reactions are loaded and sealed under
vacuum. Finally the reactions are placed into a computer controlled furnace and heated to
temperaturesinexcessof700ºCfortwoweeks.Thisposterwilldetailthesestepsandcrystalselection.