A Facile Route to Thin Films of Zinc Carbodiimide Using Aerosol-assisted CVD

There has been a resurgence of interest in metal carbodiimides in recent years and in this paper we present a route to the synthesis of one of these phases, zinc carbodiimide, previously known as zinc cyanamide, in the form of a sub-micrometer thin film, using aerosol-assisted (AA) CVD from a solution of zinc acetate and urea in methanol, with the carbodiimide ion being formed from the decomposition of the urea molecule. Thin film synthesis is achieved over a deposition temperature range 375 - 500 degrees C, with a minimum ratio of urea to zinc acetate of 2: 1 and a maximum of 5: 1 established as viable for film formation. This work presents the first example of the synthesis of a ZnNCN thin film, or indeed any metal carbodiimide thin film, using a CVD technique.