Thermal-heating CVD synthesis of BN nanotubes from trimethyl borate and nitrogen gas

From the results of SEM, HRTEM, FTIR and XRD analysis, hexagonal-BN (h-BN) and orthorhombic-BN (o-BN) nanotubes were successfully synthesized at relatively low temperature between 1000 and 1200 °C. All the nanotubes prepared in the system were identified as h-BN and o-BN. At reaction temperature of 1200 °C, several types of BN morphology appeared. The BN nanotubes could be obtained at the temperature between 1000 and 1100 °C. However, BN nanotubes for the latter temperature grow into larger size tube. The optimum reaction temperature for BN nanotube synthesis is 1000 °C. The reproduction property of synthesized BN nanotube by this method is very promising. The method should have a great potential to prepare BN nanotube in the future.