Growth of spherical carbon nitride with crystalline alpha and beta phases

Carbon is a versatile element, and its allotropes play a center role in both science and technology. Further, doping of nitrogen into carbon network has been of great interest as it leads to superior properties such as chemical, mechanical and electronic properties. Though the preparation of ultrahard β-carbon nitride remains challenging one, it owes great attention due to its superior properties. This work reports preparation and characterization of crystalline carbon nitride on silicon (100) substrate. The X-Ray diffraction revealed that the deposited film- have α and β carbon nitride crystalline phases. The calculated lattice parameters are found to be a = 6.26 Å, c = 2.38 Å for β-C3N4 and a = 6.8 Å, c = 4.6 Å for α-C3N4. The X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy study confirms that carbon atom is bonded tetrahedrally (sp3) with nitrogen atoms as expected for the formation of crystalline C3N4, and also the presence of C = N trigonal (sp2) bond. The surface morphology of the film examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy shows the formation of carbon nitride spheres