Nitridation of the Sol–Gel‐Derived Titanium Oxide Films by Heating in Ammonia Gas

Abstract
Dip‐coated sol–gel‐derived TiO2 films on an alumina substrate were converted to nonstoichiometric titanium nitride (TiNx (x≦ 1)) films by heating at approxmately 1000°C in NH3 gas. TiO2 films made from TiO2 sols prepared from Ti(O–i‐C3H7)4 and stabilized by diethanolamine were more easily nitrided than those from sols containing HCl as a deflocculant reagent. This appears to be a result of the more porous structure of the former films.