Topotactic synthesis of vanadium nitride solid foams

Abstract
Vanadium nitride has been synthesized with a surface area of 120 m2 g−1 by temperature programmed nitridation of a foam-like vanadium oxide (35 m2 g−1), precipitated from vanadate solutions. The nitridation reaction was established to be topotactic and pseudomorphous by x-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The crystallographic relationship between the nitride and oxide was {200}//{001}. The effect of precursor geometry on the product size and shape was investigated by employing vanadium oxide solids of different morphologies.