In situ controlled growth of titanium nitride in amorphous silicon nitride: a general route toward bulk nitride nanocomposites with very high hardness

Mirna Chaker Bechelany; Vanessa Proust; Christel Gervais; Rudy Ghisleni; Samuel Bernard; Philippe Miele

doi:10.1002/adma.201402356

In situ controlled growth of titanium nitride in amorphous silicon nitride: a general route toward bulk nitride nanocomposites with very high hardness

Adv Mater. 2014 Oct;26(38):6548-53. doi: 10.1002/adma.201402356. Epub 2014 Aug 5.

Authors

Mirna Chaker Bechelany¹, Vanessa Proust, Christel Gervais, Rudy Ghisleni, Samuel Bernard, Philippe Miele

Affiliation

¹ IEM (Institut Europeen des Membranes), UMR 5635 (CNRS-ENSCM-UM2), Universite Montpellier 2, Place E. Bataillon, F-34095, Montpellier, France.

PMID: 25100332
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201402356

Abstract

Bulk nanocomposites possessing very high hardness in which TiN nanocrystallites are homogeneously embedded in an amorphous Si3N4 matrix are produced from perhydropolysilazane and tetrakisdimethylaminotitanium. That is, a low-molecular-weight TiN molecule is mixed in controlled molar ratio with a polymeric Si3N4 precursor; further processing, including ammonolysis, warm pressing, and controlled nanocrystal growth, yields nanocomposites with the desired properties.

Keywords: bulk; hardness; nanocomposites; silicon nitride; titanium nitride.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't