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Chemists shrink gallium nitride, the material behind LED lighting, into nanocrystals
Phys.org • • science
Key Points:
- Chemists at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory have developed a method to synthesize nanocrystals from metal nitrides, a class of materials previously impossible to form into nanocrystals.
- Their breakthrough, published in Nature, could enable new technologies in electronics, flexible lighting, and medical implants by expanding the applications of metal nitrides beyond rigid films to flexible devices and polymers.
- The team overcame the challenge posed by the strong metal-nitrogen bonds in metal nitrides by using molten salts and optimizing temperature and ammonia pressure to allow bond rearrangement during crystal formation.
- They successfully created nanocrystals from various metal nitrides, including gallium nitride, titanium nitride, niobium nitride, and molybdenum nitride, materials known for toughness, biocompatibility, and heat resistance.
- This advancement opens new possibilities for utilizing inexpensive and industrially important nitrides in nanomaterial form, potentially impacting fields from consumer electronics to catalysis and superconductivity.
