Effects of Doping Elements and the Amounts of Oxygen/Nitrogen Contents in Final Nitrides on the Characteristics of Red Pigment of Tantalum Nitrides (Ta3N5)
Tantalum nitrides () have been developed to substitute the Cd based pigments for non-toxic red pigment. Various doping elements were doped to reduce the amount of high price Tantalum element used and preserve the red color tonality. Doping elements were added in the synthesizing process of precursor of amorphous tantalum oxides and then Tantalum nitrides doped with various elements were obtained by ammonolysis process. The average particle size of final nitrides with secondary phases was larger than the nitride without the secondary phases. Also secondary phases reduced the red color tonality of final products. On the other hand, final nitrides without secondary phase had orthorhombic crystal system and presented good red color. In other words, in the case of nitrides without secondary phases, doping elements made a solid solution of tantalum nitride. In this context, doping process controlled the ionic state of nitrides and the amount of oxygen/nitrogen in final nitrides affected the color tonality.