An electrochemical method suitable for preparing nine metal-nitride powders

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:214929

Wade, T; Crooks, R M ^[1]

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1. Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)

We present an electrochemical method that is suitable for the preparation of metal-nitride ceramic materials that is both simple and general. We begin with a single-compartment electrochemical cell containing suitable metal (M) anodes and cathodes (M=Al, Mo, Nb, Ni, Ti, V, W, Zn, or Zr) and a NH{sub 3}/NH{sub 4}X (X=Br or Cl) electrolyte solution. Application of a sufficiently high voltage results in oxidation and dissolution of M to M{sup n+} at the anode and reduction of NH{sub 3} to NH{sub 2}- at the cathode. When M=Al, this results in formation of an insoluble inorganic polymer, which can subsequently be calcined above 600{degrees}C to yield phase-pure AlN. For some of the other metals, a simple ammoniated metal ion is formed at the anode, but calcination of this material also leads to the corresponding metal nitride. The phases and morphologies of the powders depends strongly on the calcining conditions. The important point is that this method is general for the preparation of metal-nitride powders even though the pathway that leads to the powders is metal-dependent. This talk will focus primarily on the preparation of AlN, which is an important packaging material for the electronics industry, and NbN, which is a superconductor (T{sub c}{approximately}17 K) with important technological applications.

• OSTI ID: 214929
• Report Number(s): CONF-950801--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM NITRIDES
ANODES
CALCINATION
CATHODES
DISSOLUTION
NIOBIUM NITRIDES
OXIDATION
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POWDERS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
SYNTHESIS