Ordered mesoporous transition metal nitrides are of substantial interest in areas as diverse as catalysis, electrochemical energy conversion and storage, and as a platform for exploring the impact of ordered mesoscale porosity on superconductors. Such nitrides have been synthesized via a highly tunable route based on high-temperature ammonia treatment of mesostructured oxides derived from ABC poly(isoprene-b-styrene-b-ethylene oxide) triblock terpolymers. Such ABC triblocks are not widely commercially available, however, greatly limiting potential work with mesoporous nitrides. Using <i>in situ</i> small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS), we elucidate pathways to mesoporous niobium nitride based on the widely-available Pluronics family of ABA triblock copolymers, a synthetic route previously thought to be impossible due to the small pore wall thicknesses in Pluronics-derived materials and rapid crystallization of the nitride. We expect that the availability of synthetic routes to nitrides using these polymers will allow wider exploration of the impacts of mesoscale order on transition metal nitrides.

Exploring synthetic pathways to pluronics-derived mesoporous nitrides with <i>in situ</i> SAXS/WAXS

255th National Meeting (2018)

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Exploring synthetic pathways to pluronics-derived mesoporous nitrides with in situ SAXS/WAXS