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Direct Reaction of Nitrogen and Lithium up to 75 GPa - Synthesis of the Li3N, LiN, LiN2, and LiN5 Compounds

MetadataDetails
Publication Date2018-08-23
JournalInorganic Chemistry
AuthorsDominique Laniel, Gunnar Weck, Paul Loubeyre
InstitutionsCommissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Centre National d’Études Spatiales
Citations64

A wide variety of Li-N compounds are predicted as stable under pressure and associated with various nitrogen anionic moieties. Accordingly, the LiN<sub>5</sub> compound was recently synthesized at 45 GPa by the direct reaction of nitrogen and lithium. In this study, we present an experimental investigation of the Li-N binary phase diagram from ambient pressure up to 73.6 GPa. The samples loaded in the diamond anvil cells were constituted of pure lithium pieces embedded in a much greater quantity of molecular nitrogen and, at incremental pressure steps, were laser-heated to produce the thermodynamically favored solid. The following compounds are observed: Li<sub>3</sub>N, LiN<sub>2</sub>, LiN as well as LiN<sub>5</sub>, and their pressure stability domain is disclosed. Two are synthesized for the first time, namely Cmcm LiN and P6<sub>3</sub>/ mmc LiN<sub>2</sub>. Both are structurally resolved and characterized by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measurements. Their high bulk modulus is characteristic of charged N<sub>2</sub> dimers.

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