Boron nitride nanotube growth via boron oxide assisted chemical vapor transport-deposition process using LiNO₃ as a promoter

High-purity straight and discrete multiwalled boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) were grown via a boron oxide vapor reaction with ammonia using LiNO₃ as a promoter. Only a trace amount of boron oxide was detected as an impurity in the BNNTs by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and Raman spectroscopies. Boron oxide vapor was generated from a mixture of B, FeO, and MgO powders heated to 1, 150 ℃, and it was transported to the reaction zone by flowing ammonia. Lithium nitrate was applied to the upper side of a BN bar from a water solution. The bar was placed along a temperature gradient zone in a horizontal tubular furnace. BNNTs with average diameters of 30-50 nm were mostly observed in a temperature range of 1, 280-1, 320 ℃. At higher temperatures, curled polycrystalline BN fibers appeared. Above 1, 320 ℃, the number of BNNTs drastically decreased, whereas the quantity and diameter of the fibers increased. The mechanism of BNNT and fiber growth is proposed and discussed.