Abstract
Enhancement of the production yield of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) with high purity was achieved using an amorphous boron-based precursor and a nozzle-type reactor. Use of a mixture of amorphous boron and Fe decreases the milling time for the preparation of the precursor for BNNTs synthesis, as well as the Fe impurity contained in the B/Fe interdiffused precursor nanoparticles by using a simple purification process. We also explored a nozzle-type reactor that increased the production yield of BNNTs compared to a conventional flow-through reactor. By using a nozzle-type reactor with amorphous boron-based precursor, the weight of the BNNTs sample after annealing was increased as much as 2.5-times with much less impurities compared to the case for the flow-through reactor with the crystalline boron-based precursor. Under the same experimental conditions, the yield and quantity of BNNTs were estimated as much as ~70% and ~1.15 g/batch for the former, while they are ~54% and 0.78 g/batch for the latter.
Highlights
We have reported that the initial shape of the precursor nanoparticles produced from the ball milling of crystalline boron is important to determine the synthesis of boron nitride (BN) and the shape of
We explored the B/Fe interdiffused precursor nanoparticles produced from the ball milling of a mixture of amorphous boron, which with Fe can reduce the Fe impurity, while increasing the production yield of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) compared to the crystalline boron-based precursor
The precursor for BNNTs synthesis was prepared as the B/Fe interdiffused nanoparticles by the ball milling of a mixture of amorphous boron and Fe with a much reduced milling time
Summary
Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are useful for various research and engineering applications, including electric insulating thermal conducting composites [1,2,3], ceramic composites having superplasticity [4,5,6] or metal composites [7], medical applications, such as drug delivery [8,9], boron neutron capture therapy [10], hydrogen storage [11,12,13], ultraviolet (UV) light emission [14], self-cleaning agents [15], radiation shielding [16,17], etc. The crystallographic structure of boron coated on the surface of the catalytic precursor nanoparticles produced from the milling of crystalline boron was found to be a key factor for BNNTs synthesis [22,34] Upon these fundamental findings, we explored the B/Fe interdiffused precursor nanoparticles produced from the ball milling of a mixture of amorphous boron, which with Fe can reduce the Fe impurity, while increasing the production yield of BNNTs compared to the crystalline boron-based precursor. We explored the B/Fe interdiffused precursor nanoparticles produced from the ball milling of a mixture of amorphous boron, which with Fe can reduce the Fe impurity, while increasing the production yield of BNNTs compared to the crystalline boron-based precursor In this investigation, we introduce a nozzle-type reactor for BNNTs synthesis. The method and system for the BNNTs synthesis presented in this investigation may offer a clue for large production and lead to a commercial stage
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