From Unstable Precursors to Metastable Nitrides: Azidothermal Synthesis of Binaries and Beyond

无机化学、生物无机化学和金属有机化学项目的这一奖项支持爱荷华大学的Edward Gillan教授探索大规模、简便和可重复的金属氮化物和多肽系统的合成方法。将研究金属叠氮化物到氮化物(叠氮热)转化反应的化学。由于叠氮配体的能量性质，预计可以获得亚稳材料的适度分解温度。通过仔细调整非水溶剂，这种方法有望生产出具有有趣的光学和磁性的离散纳米结构产品。块状无机固体的纳米颗粒和纳米晶具有尺寸相关的性质，如较低的熔点、较高的能隙和不同于块体材料的非热力学结构。这项研究旨在通过可行和可重复的低温化学合成来获得稳定的氮化物结构，并具有可控的结构、光学和磁性。具体地说，金属叠氮化物的化学将被开发用于低温合成氮化物。研究生、本科生和博士后助理将接受合成材料方法学方面的培训，以及确定微米和纳米氮化物材料的物理性质。

This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports Professor Edward Gillan at the University of Iowa to explore large scale, facile, and reproducible synthetic methodologies towards metal nitride and pnictide systems. The chemistry of metal azide to nitride (azidothermal) conversion reactions will be investigated. Because of the energetic nature of the azide ligand, moderate decomposition temperatures allowing access to metastable materials are expected. Through careful adjustments in the non-aqueous solvent, this method is expected to produce discrete nanostructured products that have interesting optical and magnetic properties. Nanoparticles and nanocrystallites of bulk inorganic solids exhibit size dependent properties, such as lower melting points, higher energy gaps, and non-thermodynamic structures that are distinct from bulk materials. This research aims to access stable nitride structures with controlled structural, optical, and magnetic properties through viable and reproducible low-temperature chemical syntheses. Specifically, the chemistry of metal azides will be developed for the low-temperature synthesis of nitrides. Graduate students, undergraduate students and postdoctoral associates will receive training in synthetic materials methodology and in determining the physical properties of microscale and nanoscale nitride materials.