Effects of flux treatment on morphology of single-crystalline BaNbO2N particles

The effect of different kinds of alkali halide flux treatments on the morphology of BaNbO2N particles was investigated. BaNbO2N powder was first synthesized by heating a mixture of BaCO3 and Nb2O5 under NH3 flow. Following synthesis, the powder was again heated under NH3 flow but in the presence of a flux. In the case of a NaCl flux, highly crystalline cubic particles were obtained. On the other hand, a KCl flux led to the formation of truncated octahedral particles. Although particles with clear crystal habits were obtained, it was found that they were actually an aggregation of primary particles, all with the same crystal orientation. A systematic survey of the effect of the different fluxes revealed that the type of cation in the flux played a major role in determining the morphology of the BaNbO2N particles. It was also revealed that a vaporized flux was also effective in changing the particle morphology.