Study of the Temperature-Programmed Reaction Synthesis of Early Transition Metal Carbide and Nitride Catalyst Materials from Oxide Precursors

The synthesis of high surface area carbide and nitride materials from binary and ternary oxides of vanadium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, and tungsten, suitable for use as catalysts for a wide range of reactions, has been investigated via the temperature-programmed reaction (TPRe) method, in various gas mixtures. TPRe of oxides in CH4/H2, C2H6/H2, or NH3 yield materials with surface areas >40 m2 g-1. For the reaction with ethane or ammonia the reaction appears to proceed topotactically while that with methane does not; however, the conversion of nitrides to carbides in CH4/H2 does appear to proceed topotactically.