INTERACTION OF SOLVENT AND THE NATURE OF ADDUCTS ON THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF MOLYBDENUM NITRIDE POWDERS

Transition-metal halides are known to react with hydrazine to form hydrazide complexes. The formation of these complexes, however, is affected by the nature of the solvent used for conducting the reaction. While the existence of these complexes is known, there is a need to explore their subsequent decomposition reactions to form the corresponding metal nitrides, In this work we have studied the reaction of MoCl5 with hydrazine using nonhydroxylic polar solvents such as acetonitrile (CH3CN) and tetrahydrofuran (C4H8O). The interaction of the solvents with MoCl5 have been first examined in order to identify the formation of adducts. The adducts have then been reacted with hydrazine to obtain a precipitate which results in the formation of the nitride on decomposition at higher temperatures, The influence of the solvent on the formation of the nitride phase and its morphology (of the precipitate and the decomposed product) have also been investigated.