Novel Ca and Ca-Li Intercalated B/C and B/C/N Materials with Layered Structures

Abstract

Abstract Boron/carbon/nitrogen (B/C/N) materials and boron/carbon (B/C) materials having graphite-like layered structures were synthesized by using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Calcium (Ca) was intercalated into the B/C materials by the reaction of Ca vapor with the host B/C film to form an intercalation compound with a second stage structure as a main product. Ca was also co-intercalated with lithium (Li) into the B/C/N materials by using a liquid-alloy method to form an intercalation compound. These are the first examples of syntheses of Ca and Ca-Li intercalated B/C and B/C/N materials. A nuclear microprobe analysis (NMA) indicated the compositions of the original host B/C/N and B/C materials to be BC2.6N0.55 and BC6.4, and the Ca-Li intercalated compound to be Ca0.67Li0.42(BC3.3N0.50) and suggested the homogeneity of these materials and the compound. We also found that the NMA is one of the most accurate methods for determining the compositions of air and water sensitive intercalation compounds as well as complex systems like B/C/N and B/C materials.