# Solid-State Chemistry

> Solid-state chemistry investigates the synthesis, structure, properties, and transformations of solid-phase materials — crystalline, amorphous, and nano-structured — and forms the materials science foundation for applications in energy storage, catalysis, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. Core areas include crystal engineering, the chemistry of metal-organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks as porous materials for gas storage, separation, and catalysis; solid electrolytes and ionic conductors for solid-state batteries; thermoelectric materials for waste heat conversion; and defect chemistry governing the properties of oxides, halide perovskites for solar cells, and phosphors for lighting. Topochemical reactions — solid-state reactions that proceed with minimal atomic movement — offer control over product crystal structure impossible in solution. Key characterisation techniques include powder and single-crystal X-ray diffraction, solid-state NMR spectroscopy, synchrotron diffraction, impedance spectroscopy for ion transport, and aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. Funding comes from energy technology programmes, semiconductor and display industries, pharmaceutical companies, and national science foundations.

*Source: [https://selltoscientists.com/fields/solid-state-chemistry/](https://selltoscientists.com/fields/solid-state-chemistry/)*

**Researcher count:** 21,000
**Average funding:** $310,000/year

## Subfields

- crystal engineering
- topochemistry
- metal-organic frameworks
- ionic conductors
- defect chemistry

## Key technologies

- powder X-ray diffraction
- solid-state NMR
- synchrotron techniques
- impedance spectroscopy
- electron microscopy

## Top institutions

- MIT
- University of Cambridge
- ETH Zurich
- University of Tokyo
- Northwestern University

---

## Beton network

This site is part of the Beton network of open-source revenue intelligence and self-service data products. Related sites and resources:

- [Beton](https://www.getbeton.ai) — open-source revenue intelligence: turn product usage (PostHog, Stripe) into CRM signals
- [Sell to Scientists](https://selltoscientists.com) — research intelligence: find and reach academic researchers by field, H-index, grants, and industry ties
- [Sell to State](https://www.selltostate.com) — government procurement intelligence across 194 countries
- [GitHub](https://github.com/getbeton) — Beton open-source repositories (including [inspector](https://github.com/getbeton/inspector))
- [dev.to](https://dev.to/beton) — engineering write-ups and OSS pricing teardowns
- [Beton app](https://inspector.getbeton.ai) — the hosted product