Photochemical Synthesis of Ultrafine Cubic Boron Nitride Nanoparticles under Ambient Conditions

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie (International ed.) Vol. 54; no. 24; pp. 7051 - 7054
• Main Authors: Liu, Hui, Jin, Peng, Xue, Yan-Ming, Dong, Cunku, Li, Xiang, Tang, Cheng-Chun, Du, Xi-Wen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 08.06.2015; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Abrasives; Ammonia; ammonia borane; Boranes; Cubic boron nitride; Dehydrogenation; Irradiation; laser irradiation; Lasers; Nanoparticles; Photochemical; Stability; Synthesis; laser irradiation; dehydrogenation; cubic boron nitride; nanoparticles; ammonia borane
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201502023

Cubic boron nitride (c‐BN) is a super‐hard material whose hardness increases dramatically with decreasing size. However, c‐BN nanoparticles (NPs) with sizes less than 10 nm have never been obtained. Herein we report a simple strategy towards the synthesis of ultrafine c‐BN NPs with an average size of 3.5 nm. The method, under ambient conditions, exploits a laser‐induced photochemical effect and employs dioxane solution of ammonia borane (AB) as a liquid target. Meanwhile, total dehydrogenation of AB is realized by laser irradiation. Therefore, this approach shows great potential for the preparation of super‐hard NPs as well as controllable dehydrogenation. Small phases: A photochemical method is developed to synthesize unprecedentedly small and monodisperse cubic boron nitride (c‐BN NPs) nanoparticles of 3.5 nm. Under ambient conditions nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation decomposes ammonia borane (AB) molecules in dioxane solution to give ultrafine c‐BN NPs as well as H2 gas. This approach showed great potential for controllable hydrogen generation.