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Title: High-pressure synthesis of ultraincompressible hard rhenium nitride pernitride Re2(N2)(N)2 stable at ambient conditions

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
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  1. Univ. of Bayreuth (Germany)
  2. National Univ. of Science and Technology (MISIS), Moscow (Russia)
  3. Linköping Univ. (Sweden)
  4. Friedrich-Alexander-Univ., Erlangen (Germany)
  5. Univ. of Munich (LMU) (Germany)
  6. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Center for Advanced Radiation Sources (CARS)
  7. European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble (France)
  8. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany). Photon Science

High-pressure synthesis in diamond anvil cells can yield unique compounds with advanced properties, but often they are either unrecoverable at ambient conditions or produced in quantity insufficient for properties characterization. Here we report the synthesis of metallic, ultraincompressible (K0 = 28(10) GPa), and very hard (nanoindentation hardness 36.7(8) GPa) rhenium nitride pernitride Re2(N2)(N)2. Unlike known transition metals pernitrides Re2(N2)(N)2 contains both pernitride N24– and discrete N3– anions, which explains its exceptional properties. Re2(N2)(N)2 can be obtained via a reaction between rhenium and nitrogen in a diamond anvil cell at pressures from 40 to 90 GPa and is recoverable at ambient conditions. We develop a route to scale up its synthesis through a reaction between rhenium and ammonium azide, NH4N3, in a large-volume press at 33 GPa. Although metallic bonding is typically seen incompatible with intrinsic hardness, Re2(N2)(N)2 turned to be at a threshold for superhard materials.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
German Research Foundation (DFG); German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF); Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (FCI); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division; Russian Science Foundation (RSF); Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation; Swedish Research Council (VR); Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials; VINN Excellence Center Functional Nanoscale Materials (FunMat-2); European Research Council (ERC)
Grant/Contract Number:
5K16WC1; EAR-1634415; FG02-94ER14466; AC02-06CH11357; 2015-04391; SFO-Mat-LiU No. 2009-00971; 2016–05156; 787527
OSTI ID:
1542989
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Vol. 10, Issue 1; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 39 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Single-crystal diffractometer coupled with double-sided laser heating system at the Extreme Conditions Beamline P02.2 at PETRAIII journal July 2019
Single-crystal diffractometer coupled with double-sided laser heating system at the Extreme Conditions Beamline P02.2 at PETRAIII text January 2019
High-pressure synthesis of superhard and ultrahard materials journal October 2019