Alkali metal surfactant-facilitated formation of thick boron nitride layers on carbon nanotubes by dip-coating

In this paper, we introduced sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) to the impregnation solution to promote boron nitride (BN) formation on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) by dip-coating. BN coating formation on MWNTs can be greatly improved by SDBS. The resultant BN-coated MWNTs showed increased BN shell thickness, enhanced MWNT dispersion in the impregnation solution, and lower formation temperatures and times (at 1000 °C for 2 h under flowing nitrogen). The shell thickness of the MWNTs may be adjusted from about 10 nm to 25 nm. Electrical property testing also showed that increasing the shell thickness induces higher resistivity (from 0.12 Ω cm to 430 Ω cm) in the MWNTs.