Carbon Nitride and Boron Carbon Nitride Nanostructures

Abstract

This chapter is devoted to carbon nitride and boron carbon nitride nanostructures, an important and indispensable member in the family of nanomaterials for various applications, especially in nanoelectronics. It covers all the main aspects of the current research on the carbon nitride and boron carbonitride nanostructures. The attention is mainly focused on the one-dimensional carbon nitride and boron carbon nitride nanotubes. The most critical issues were addressed from the perspectives of synthesis, composition, structure, property, and application. Due to the presence of multielements in graphite-like layers, the carbon nitride and boron carbon nitride nanotubes display much richer diversities than their carbon counterparts in structure and property. The carbon nitride nanotubes behave always as metallic wires, and the boron carbon nitride nanotubes exhibit semiconducting properties tailorable in a large range depending only on compositions. The properties of electrical conducting, electron field emission, photoluminescence, hydrogen storage, and lithium storage are also presented in this chapter based on the current knowledge.