Abstract
Cylinder- and bamboo-shaped boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) have been synthesized in large scale via a facile chemical vapor reaction route using ammonia borane as a precursor. The structure and chemical composition of the as-synthesized BNNTs are extensively characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and selected-area electron diffraction. The cylinder-shaped BNNTs have an average diameter of about 100 nm and length of hundreds of microns, while the bamboo-shaped BNNTs are 100–500 nm in diameter with length up to tens of microns. The formation mechanism of the BNNTs has been explored on the basis of our experimental observations and a growth model has been proposed accordingly. Ultraviolet–visible and cathodoluminescence spectroscopic analyses are performed on the BNNTs. Strong ultraviolet emissions are detected on both morphologies of BNNTs. The band gap of the BNNTs are around 5.82 eV and nearly unaffected by tube morphology. There exist two intermediate bands in the band gap of BNNTs, which could be distinguishably assigned to structural defects and chemical impurities.
Highlights
As structural analogs of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) have attracted continuous attention owing to their extraordinary structural and physical properties [1,2]
BNNTs are likely to grow in different scenarios because the precipitation rate of B and N atoms might depend on the curvatures of the catalyst particles, similar to that occurs in the growth process of CNTs [41,42]
In summary, we have developed a new approach to the fabrication of BNNTs with two morphologies using ammonia borane as a precursor
Summary
As structural analogs of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) have attracted continuous attention owing to their extraordinary structural and physical properties [1,2]. A low magnification SEM image shown in Figure 2a suggests that a high yield of onedimensional (1D) nanostructures is obtained.
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