Preparation of gallium nitride from gallium–magnesium alloy powders

Ga-Mg alloy powders were introduced to synthesise GaN powders with flowing ammonia. When the magnesium percentage in the alloy was 25 wt-% or below and the reaction temperature was about 750 degrees C, all Ga atoms in the alloy were transformed into GaN, and the diameter of the GaN powders was about 40 nm. For the Ga-Mg alloy powders with a diameter ranging from 37 to 75 mu m ammoniated at 750 degrees C, only 3 h were spent to transform all the Ga atoms into GaN, indicating that the strategy suggested in this study was effective to produce GaN powders.