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Growth and characterization of boron nitride nanotubes having novel morphologies using mechanothermal process

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Abstract

We report an effective approach to synthesize boron nitride (BN) nanotubes having novel morphologies employing a mechanothermal process. In this process, a precursor containing B–N–O–Fe was first synthesized by ball milling a 1:1 mixture of elemental boron (B) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and iron oxide (about 6 wt%) for about 36 h in the presence of ammonia gas. BN nanotubes were grown by annealing this precursor in ammonia gas atmosphere at 1,250–1,350 °C for about 3 h. The nanotubes produced using this technique were found to evolve structures having Y-junctions and bamboo-like morphology with an average diameter of about 30–100 nm and length several microns. A few nanotubes with partially folded in diameter were also found to co-exist along with other nanotubes. These nanotubes were characterized using various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and Raman spectroscopy. The growth mechanism for the formation of these novel morphologies in BN nanotubes is also discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Director, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi for his permission to publish the results reported in this article. Thanks are also due to Ms. Arpita Vajpayee and Mr. K.N. Sood for their help in XRD and SEM measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Physical laboratory, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Dr. K.S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Sunil Kumar Singhal, Avanish Kumar Srivastava, Nita Dilawar & Anil Kumar Gupta

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  1. Sunil Kumar Singhal
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  2. Avanish Kumar Srivastava
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  3. Nita Dilawar
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  4. Anil Kumar Gupta
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Correspondence to Sunil Kumar Singhal.

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Singhal, S.K., Srivastava, A.K., Dilawar, N. et al. Growth and characterization of boron nitride nanotubes having novel morphologies using mechanothermal process. J Nanopart Res 12, 2201–2210 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-009-9786-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-009-9786-8

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