POLYMERIZATION TO GRAPHITE-LIKE NITRIDE CLUSTERS FROM TETRACYANOETHYLENE VAPOR

Various types of graphite-like nitride clusters were synthesized by ch emical vapor deposition of tetracyanoethylene (TCE) onto a substrate o f cleaved KCl crystals at 230-300-degrees-C. At a low reaction tempera ture of 230-degrees-C, TCE was polymerized to ribbon-like clusters, wh ich resembled curved graphitic sheets. Upon increasing the reaction te mperature to 250-300-degrees-C, polymerized TCE condensed on KCl to fo rm spheric clusters. The most regular structure of the clusters was ob tained at 300-degrees-C in a nanoscale needle-like morphology. High-re solution electron microscopy suggested that these clusters were compos ed of polymerized TCE layers with a interlayer distance of 0.34-0.35 n m. (C) 1994 American Institute of Physics.