Vanadium nitrides: reactions of vanadium oxides with lithium in the presence of nitrogen

Abstract

The reaction of vanadium oxides with liquid lithium containing dissolved nitrogen provides a method for the preparation of nitrides of vanadium. The oxides V₂O₅, VO₂, V₂O₃, and VO are reduced by liquid lithium to the metal. Depending on the quantity of nitrogen available, further reaction then occurs to give the α phase solid solution of nitrogen in vanadium, the nitrides V₃N and VN, or the ternary nitride Li₇VN₄.