Chicago and Argonne researchers demonstrate metal-nitride nanocrystal synthesis

Researchers at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory reported a method for producing metal-nitride nanocrystals that had resisted conventional synthesis. Using molten salts and a temperature-and-ammonia-pressure range that lets metal-nitrogen bonds break and reform, the team made nearly a dozen materials, including gallium nitride, titanium nitride, niobium nitride and molybdenum nitride. The work, published in Nature, demonstrates a laboratory route to nanocrystal forms of materials used in lighting, implants, superconductors and catalysis.