Low temperature synthesis of nanocrystalline tantalum nitride

Abstract

Tantalum nitride (Ta 2 N) nanocrystals have been successfully synthesized at 650 °C through a chemical reaction in an autoclave. The X-ray powder diffraction pattern indicates that the product is hexagonal phase Ta 2 N. Transmission electron microscopy image shows that the obtained Ta 2 N product is consist of nanoparticles with an average size of about 50 nm. Furthermore, the thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA) result indicates that the product has good thermal stability and oxidation resistance below 300 °C in air.