Direct access to macroporous chromium nitride and chromium titanium nitride with inverse opal structure

We report a facile synthesis of single-phase, nanocrystalline macroporous chromium nitride and chromium titanium nitride with an inverse opal morphology. The material is characterized using XRD, SEM, HR-TEM/STEM, TGA and XPS. Interconversion of macroporous CrN to Cr2O3 and back to CrN while retaining the inverse opal morphology is also demonstrated.