First High-Pressure Investigation of the W-C-N Ternary System

The last decade of research on high-pressure formed nitrides led to the discovery of a plethora of novel compounds which both allowed us to drastically improve our fundamental knowledge of chemistry, build empirical rules under high pressures as well as provide us with new building blocks for potential industrial applications. However, most of these investigations focussed on binary nitrides. The primary objective of this proposal is to investigate the wholly uncharted W-C-N system between ambient pressure and 130 GPa using laser-heated diamond anvil cells (DAC) and synthesize novel ternary compounds. To realize this aim, the crystal structure of the newly synthesized compounds, along with their corresponding synthesis conditions, will be elucidated using single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) analysis of polycrystalline samples. This proposal serves as a logical continuation of the recent achievements in both the C-N and W-N systems conducted in our group.