ANR INSITU
Synthesis of nanostructured Iron Nitrides: in SIlico and operando sTUdies towards labscale phase control.
The INSITU project aims to identify the synthesis conditions that lead to nanostructured iron nitrides with well-defined composition and structure. Indeed, depending on their composition and structure, these nanomaterials—which contain no critical, costly, or toxic elements—are of great interest as building blocks in the development of batteries, electrocatalysts for fuel cells, for hydrogen production or CO₂ reduction[1], or environmentally friendly magnets (with adjustable anisotropy). The original process (Figure 1) involves the nitridation of precisely sized zero-valent iron nanoparticles using ammonia.[1,2]
Figure 1: Method to access nanostructured iron nitrides
The nitridation process is studied at the single-particle scale, both experimentally (in operando) using transmission electron microscopy and theoretically. Particular attention is paid to the synthesis intermediates (various phases and gaseous species formed) and to the homogeneity of the final nanoparticles. Based on a comparison of the results, this knowledge is then applied to the production of nanostructured iron nitrides on a macroscopic scale, and the properties of the materials are evaluated. This project is based on a partnership between four laboratories with complementary expertise (Figure 2): nanomaterial synthesis (LCC-Toulouse), structural studies (MPQ-Paris), modeling (LPCNO-Toulouse), and the study of magnetic properties (CEMES-Toulouse).
Figure 2: Structure of the project
Financial support: ANR-25-CE50-7591-01, 2025-2029
Coordinator: Catherine AMIENS, in collaboration with Marc RESPAUD (CEMES), Romuald POTEAU, Chiara DINOI, and Iker Del ROSAL (LPCNO), Christian RICOLLEAU and Jaysen NELAYAH (LMPQ).
Recruited PhD student: Paul RETAIL (01-09-2026/31-08-2029), co-supervised by C. Amiens (LCC) and C. Ricolleau (LMPQ).
Recruited post-doctoral fellow: Berta MARTINEZ-I-BACHS (01-01-2027/31-12-2027), LPCNO.
[1] Easy access to Fe2N nanomaterials from Fe nanocrystals and investigation of their electrocatalytic properties for the water electrolysis and CO2 reduction. Azadeh EDALAT, Laure VENDIER, Catherine AMIENS, Marc RESPAUD, Pierre ROBLIN, Jérôme ESVAN, Quyen T. NGUYEN, Duc N. NGUYEN, Vu T. TRAN, Ly T. LE, Phong D. TRAN, Frederic DUMESTRE. RSC Advances, 2025, 15, 48862 – 48875. https://hal.science/hal-05407034v1
[2] Nitridation of Zerovalent Fe Nanoparticles: A Parametric Study towards Sustainable Synthesis of Fe Nitride Nanomaterials. Azadeh EDALAT, Pierre LECANTE, Catherine AMIENS, Marc RESPAUD, 10th World Congress on Recent Advances in Nanotechnology (RAN2025), Apr 2025, Barcelone, Spain. Paper No. ICNNFC 114/1-5. https://hal.science/hal-05548757v1
LCC CNRS
Laboratoire de chimie de coordination du CNRS
205 route de Narbonne, BP 44099
31077 Toulouse cedex 4
France
+ 33 5 61 33 31 00
