This grant is funded in the Materials Chemistry and Chemical Processing Initiative. It is a collaborative effort between a chemist and a materials scientist that is concerned with the synthesis of new metal-organic precursors, the preparation of amorphous oxycarbides and crystalline carbides from these precursors, the elucidation of the structures of these new amorphous solids, the mechanisms of their transformations and the measurement of their chemical, mechanical, electrical, optical and magnetic properties. Specifically, the precursors for boron carbide, boron/silicon carbide, iron carbide, tungsten carbide, and vanadium carbide are being synthesized into thin films, bulk solids, or fibers, and heat treated in inert atmospheres.
