A facile route to high-purity BN nanoplates with ultraviolet cathodoluminescence emissions at room temperature

• We present a novel and simple approach to great-scale fabrication of BN nanoplates.
• The as-synthesized products are extensively characterized.
• The formation mechanism of BN nanoplates are elucidated based on experimental observations.
• A growth model was proposed according to our experimental observations and analysis.
• BN nanoplates’ CL performance envisions its applications such as UV emitters.

We present a novel and notably simple approach to fabricate BN nanoplates in large scale employing ammonia borane as a single-source precursor. The structure and chemical composition of the as-synthesized products are extensively characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). XRD analysis indicates that the products are hexagonal BN crystal. SEM images confirm that the BN nanoplates have an average diameter of about 200 nm and thickness of tens of nanometers. HRTEM results illustrate the BN nanoplates to be single-crystals. EELS result suggests the nanoplates are composed of boron and nitride elements. The formation mechanism of the BN nanoplates has been elucidated based on our experimental observations, and a growth model has been proposed accordingly. Cathodoluminescence spectroscopic analysis is performed and strong ultraviolet (UV) emissions are detected. Our method provides a simple route towards the large-scale fabrication of high-quality BN nanoplates, for which various promising applications such as compact UV emitters can be envisioned.

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