Growth of Trigonal-shaped TiN Nanocrystals via the Metal-catalyzed Reduction-Nitridation Route at Low Temperature

Pure trigonal-shaped TiN nanocrystals with the size of 30–50 nm were synthesized from a metal-catalyzed reductionnitridation (MCRN) route at 350 °C for 6 h, which used TiCl4 and NaNH2 as the starting materials and Mg metal as the catalyst. The obtained sample was characterized by XRD, TEM, and XPS. The effect of the metallic catalyst on the formation of the trigonal-shaped TiN nanocrystalline was discussed.