Nitridosilicates - A significant extension of silicate chemistry

Because of its low chemical reactivity Si3N4 has hardly been used as a starting material for the preparation of multinary silicon nitrides or nitridosilicates, but has gained increasing importance as a nonoxidic material for high-performance applications. A novel synthetic approach is presented, which starts from silicon diimide (Si(NH)(2)) and makes available a large variety of novel nitridosilicates. The structures of these nitridosilicates represent a significant extension from those found in the family of oxosilicates. Because of their outstanding chemical and physical stability, nitridosilicates might be of particular interest for the development of novel inorganic nitridic materials.