Nitride

[4] Like carbides, nitrides are often refractory materials owing to their high lattice energy, which reflects the strong bonding of "N3−" to metal cation(s).

Hexagonal boron nitride, which adopts a layered structure, is a useful high-temperature lubricant akin to molybdenum disulfide.

The wide-band gap material gallium nitride is prized for emitting blue light in LEDs.

The nitrides of aluminium, gallium, and indium adopt the hexagonal wurtzite structure in which each atom occupies tetrahedral sites.

Most metal-rich transition metal nitrides adopt a relatively ordered face-centered cubic or hexagonal close-packed crystal structure, with octahedral coordination.

They are essential for industrial metallurgy, because they are typically much harder and less ductile than their parent metal, and resist air-oxidation.

[13] Nitride containing species of the lanthanides and actinides are of scientific interest as they can provide a useful handle for determining covalency of bonding.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy along with quantum chemical analysis has often been used to determine the degree to which metal nitride bonds are ionic or covalent in character.

Cyanogen ((CN)2) and tetrasulfur tetranitride (S4N4) are rare examples of a molecular binary (containing one element aside from nitrogen) nitrides.