Synthesis of High Surface Area Mo-V Nitrides

VN, γ-Mo₂N and Mo-V bimetallic nitride with varying Mo and V contents were synthesized from nitridation of V₂O₅, MoO₃ and Mo-V based mixed oxide precursors. The nitride materials were characterized by XRD and BET surface area measurements. The diffraction patterns of Mo-V bimetallic nitrides are very similar to their individual binary nitrides with fcc cubic structures, i.e., VN and γ-Mo₂N. The lattice parameter values for various Mo-V nitride systems are observed in the intermediate range between the values for those of binary VN and γ-Mo₂N nitrides, i.e., 4.1204 Å and 4.19 Å, respectively. The values of lattice parameters is found to increase with the increased at % of Mo in VN lattice. An increasing trend in the BET surface areas with the increase in Mo content in the materials is found. The BET surface areas of the nitrides are considerably higher than that of pure VN and γ-Mo₂N nitrides, i.e., 22.7 m²/g and 31.3 m²/g, respectively. With the decrease of temperature of the solid gas reaction, BET surface area is found to increase significantly. We found the maximum surface area of 105.5 m²/g for one of the Mo-V bimetallic samples synthesized at 750° C with Mo : V ratio of 3 : 1.