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Synthesis of boron nitride nanotubes by boron ink annealing

journal contribution
posted on 2010-03-12, 00:00 authored by Luhua LiLuhua Li, Ying (Ian) ChenYing (Ian) Chen, Alexey Glushenkov
Ball-milling and annealing is one effective method for the mass production of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs). We report that the method has been modified to a boron (B) ink annealing method. In this new process, the nanosize ball-milled B particles are mixed with metal nitrate in ethanol to form an ink-like solution, and then the ink is annealed in nitrogen-containing gas to form nanotubes. The new method greatly enhances the yield of BNNTs, giving a higher density of nanotubes. These improvements are caused by the addition of metal nitrate and ethanol, both of which can strongly boost the nitriding reaction, as revealed by thermogravimetric analysis. The size and structure of BNNTs can be controlled by varying the annealing conditions. This high-yield production of BNNTs in large quantities enables the large-scale application of BNNTs.

History

Journal

Nanotechnology

Volume

21

Issue

10

Pagination

1 - 5

Publisher

Institute of Physics Publishing

Location

Bristol, England

ISSN

0957-4484

eISSN

1361-6528

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2010, IOP Publishing Ltd