Synthesis of anti-perovskite-type carbides and nitrides from metal oxides and melamine

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel synthesis method for anti-perovskite compounds using metal oxides and melamine, successfully producing new materials and characterizing their electronic properties.

Contribution

It introduces a new melamine-based synthesis route for anti-perovskite carbides and nitrides, including the first synthesis of SnNCo3.

Findings

SnNCo3 is a correlated metal with high density of states at the Fermi level.

ZnNNi3 and ZnCNi3 can be selectively synthesized by adjusting reaction conditions.

The synthesis method is effective for discovering complex metal carbides and nitrides.

Abstract

Four anti-perovskite-type compounds, ZnNNi3, ZnCNi3, SnNCo3, and SnCCo3, are synthesised through reactions between ingredient metal oxides and organic compound melamine (C3H6N6). ZnNNi3 and ZnCNi3 are selectively synthesised by choosing different reaction temperatures and nominal oxide-to-melamine ratios. SnNCo3 is synthesised for the first time by this melamine method. Resistivity, magnetisation, and heat capacity measurements reveal that SnNCo3 is a correlated metal with a high density of states at the Fermi level. Our results demonstrate that this feasible synthetic route using melamine is useful in the search for complex metal carbides and nitrides toward novel functional materials.