Issue 62, 2018, Issue in Progress

Fast and safe synthesis of micron germanium in an ammonia atmosphere using Mo2N as catalyst

Abstract

Here, we reported a new method for fast and safe synthesis of a micron germanium (Ge) semiconductor. The Ge was successfully prepared from mixed GeO2 with a low amount of MoO3 by the NH3 reduction method at 800 °C for an ultra-short time of 10 min. XRD patterns show that the Ge has a tetragonal structure. SEM images show that the size of the Ge particles is from 5 μm to 10 μm, and so it is on the micron scale. UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy shows that the Ge has good light absorption both in the ultraviolet and visible regions. The formation of Ge mainly goes through a two-step conversion in the NH3 flow. Firstly, GeO2 is converted to Ge3N4, and then Ge3N4 is decomposed to generate Ge. The comparison experiments of MoO3 and Mo2N demonstrate that Mo2N is the catalyst for the Ge synthesis which improves the Ge3N4 decomposition. The presented fast and safe synthesis method of Ge has great potential for industrialization and the proposed Mo2N boosting the Ge3N4 decomposition has provided significant guidance for other nitride decomposition systems.

Graphical abstract: Fast and safe synthesis of micron germanium in an ammonia atmosphere using Mo2N as catalyst

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Sep 2018
Accepted
07 Oct 2018
First published
19 Oct 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2018,8, 35753-35758

Fast and safe synthesis of micron germanium in an ammonia atmosphere using Mo2N as catalyst

B. Ma, D. Li, X. Wang and K. Lin, RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 35753 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA07352J

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