Liquid-Phase Synthesis

Liquid-phase synthesis is where most cathode precursors, solid-electrolyte gels, ionomers, binders, and electrocatalysts on this catalog are actually made — long before any furnace, mill, or coating step touches the material. This section groups the reactor formats that decide particle size, phase, morphology, molecular weight, and trace-element homogeneity in solution, so the downstream calcination or casting step has a fighting chance of being reproducible.

The seven child collections cover the standard reactor archetypes a battery, fuel-cell, or electrolyzer lab will reach for:

• Stirred Tank Reactors — benchtop autoclaves and mini batch reactors with active agitation, for layered (NCM, NCA) and olivine (LFP, LMFP) precursors, MOFs, and single-atom catalyst supports.
• Solvothermal Reactors — static PTFE-lined autoclaves and stirred mini reactors that hold solvent above its normal boiling point for hydrothermal and solvothermal crystallization.
• Flow Reactors — continuous liquid-phase cells for electrosynthesis, CO2 reduction, water electrolysis, and redox-flow chemistry studies under controlled mass transport.
• Precipitation Reactors — batch, semi-batch, and CSTR units for co-precipitation of Ni-rich hydroxide cathode precursors, OER catalysts, and oxalate intermediates.
• Sol-Gel Reactors — jacketed glass vessels for hydrolysis and condensation of alkoxide and citrate precursors feeding NASICON LATP/LAGP, garnet LLZO, perovskite LSCF, and oxide-cathode workflows.
• Microwave Reactors — single-mode and multi-mode benchtop systems that compress reflux syntheses for olivine phosphates, layered oxides, MOFs, and COFs.
• Polymerization Reactors — bench- to pilot-scale reactors for binders (PVDF, PVDF-HFP, CMC, SBR), PFSA-type ionomers, gel and solid polymer electrolytes, and conducting polymers.

If you are making oxide or polyanion cathode precursors, start with precipitation, stirred tank, or solvothermal reactors; for solid electrolytes and catalyst supports, sol-gel and microwave routes are usually the better entry; for binders, ionomers, and polymer electrolytes, go to polymerization reactors; for steady-state electrosynthesis or flow-cell screening, see flow reactors. For the broader workflow context, see Synthesis Equipment.