Sonochemical synthesis of iron phosphide

The sonochemical reaction of Fe(CO)5 and triethylphosphine has been found to produce solid amorphous iron phosphide of composition FeP. The resulting compound was characterized by elemental microanalysis, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and Debye–Scherrer powder X-ray diffraction. X-ray powder patterns were obtained after the amorphous material had been heated above 950°C and then slowly cooled to induce crystallization. This reaction provides the first use of ultrasound to sonochemically synthesize amorphous phosphide semiconductor materials from organometallic precursors.