Total scattering study of silicon diimide

Inorganic imide materials are of interest for a range of energy storage applications, such as hydrogen storage and ammonia synthesis and decomposition. However, they have been overlooked for broader applications. Silicon diimide, Si(NH)2, is one of the only covalent inorganic imides known, and yet its structure is essentially unknown. It is amorphous and expected to show significant structural similarities with amorphous silica – the close relationship between imide and oxide materials may help unlock new functional imide materials. Two days of experimental time on SANDALS are requested in order to measure neutron total scattering data on silicon diimide in order to develop a structural model which will serve as the foundation for future investigations into silicon-based imide materials.