Solid-State Chemistry in a Microwave Oven: Preparation of Pd/Co Alloy from Cyanogel Coordination Polymers

Abstract

Cyanogels are a class of inorganic gels made of coordination polymers, in which transition metal centers are bridged by cyanide ligands. A dehydrated gel formed by the reaction of [PdCl4]2- and [Co(CN)6]3- can be processed in a conventional microwave oven to form ferromagnetic metal alloys. The cyanogel polymer directly absorbs microwave radiation, which leads to sufficient heating of the sample to cause the rapid reduction of the metal.