Synthesis of VN nanopowders via thermal processing of the precursor in N2 atmosphere

Vanadium nitride (VN) nanopowders can be synthesized by thermal processing of the precursor of ammonium vanadate (NH4VO3) and nanometer carbon black in N2 atmosphere. The synthesized powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Simultaneous thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA) were made. The results show that single phase VN powders can be synthesized at ∼1050 °C for 1 h with an average crystallite size of 45.0 nm, and the powders show good dispersion and are mainly composed of uniformly-sized spherical particles with a mean diameter of ∼50 nm.