Lesson plan
Nitride
In chemistry, a nitride is a chemical compound of nitrogen. Nitrides can be inorganic or organic, ionic or covalent. The nitride anion, N 3− , is very elusive but compounds of nitride are numerous, although rarely naturally occurring. Some applications of nitride compounds include wear-resistant coatings (e.g., titanium nitride, TiN), hard ceramic materials (e.g., silicon nitride, Si 3 N 4 ), and semiconductors (e.g., gallium nitride, GaN). The development of GaN-based light emitting diodes was recognized by the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics. Metal nitrido complexes are also common. Synthesis of inorganic metal nitrides is challenging because nitrogen gas (N 2 ) is not very reactive at low temperatures, but it becomes more reactive at higher temperatures. Therefore, a balance must be achieved between the low reactivity of nitrogen gas at low temperatures and the entropy driven formation of N 2 at high temperatures. However, synthetic methods for nitrides are growing more sophisticated and the materials are of increasing technological relevance.
Article summary
In chemistry, a nitride is a chemical compound of nitrogen. Nitrides can be inorganic or organic, ionic or covalent. The nitride anion, N 3− , is very elusive but compounds of nitride are numerous, although rarely naturally occurring. Some applications of nitride compounds include wear-resistant coatings (e.g., titanium nitride, TiN), hard ceramic materials (e.g., silicon nitride, Si 3 N 4 ), and semiconductors (e.g., gallium nitride, GaN). The development of GaN-based light emitting diodes was recognized by the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics. Metal nitrido complexes are also common. Synthesis of inorganic metal nitrides is challenging because nitrogen gas (N 2 ) is not very reactive at low temperatures, but it becomes more reactive at higher temperatures. Therefore, a balance must be achieved between the low reactivity of nitrogen gas at low temperatures and the entropy driven formation of N 2 at high temperatures. However, synthetic methods for nitrides are growing more sophisticated and the materials are of increasing technological relevance.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.