Vanadium nitride (VN) nanopowders were directly prepared via decomposition of gas-phase vanadium oxytrichloride (VOCl3) in N-2/Ar/H-2 microwave plasma generated at the atmospheric pressure. The dark greenish black powders were deposited on the inner wall of the quartz tube in the microwave plasma torch. The synthesized samples were taken from two regions of the plasma reactor and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). All the samples taken from two regions consisted of typical nanoparticles, containing a large amount of VN and a little bit of V2O3. The TEM images show that the nanoparticles have sphere-shapes and well-defined planes formed by ordered stackings with d-spacings of 0.17 and 0.21 nm. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.