Low‐Temperature Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Titanium Nitride via a Benzene–Thermal Route

A benzene–thermal reaction of TiCl 4 and NaN 3 at 350°–380°C was conducted for the preparation of nanocrystalline TiN. Powder X‐ray diffractometry patterns indicated that the powder was cubic‐phase TiN with a lattice constant a = 4.23656 Å. Transmission electron microscopy images showed the TiN powders consisted of uniform spherical particles with an average diameter of 50 nm. The binding energies of Ti 2 p 3/2 and N 1 s core levels at the positions of 454.85 and 397.1 eV, respectively, and the Ti:N atomic ratio of 1.08:1.00 were detected by X‐ray photoelectron spectra. A possible formation mechanism of TiN was proposed.