Characterization of high surface area hexagonal boron nitride by in situ electrical conductivity

High surface area BN and BN1-xOx powders to be used as new supports in catalysis have been prepared from two different borazine-type precursors and compared. Pure BN obtained from trichloroborazine presented a surface area of 184 m2/g. Boron oxi-nitride with a surface area of 115 m2/g was obtained when using polytrimethylaminoborazine. The presence of oxygen in the BN1-xOx structure induced a behavior different from that of pure BN as it was evidenced by using in situ electrical conductivity measurements.