Octahedral boron nitride fullerenes formed by electron beam irradiation

Abstract

Here we report on the formation of fullerenes with a reduced number of layers (typically ⩽3) in boron nitride (BN) which was subjected to in situ electron irradiation at 20 and 490 °C in a high resolution 300 kV transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The BN fullerenes exhibited B/N stoichiometry of ∼1 as confirmed by electron energy loss spectroscopy using a 1 nm electron probe. The fullerene HRTEM images revealed rectangle-like shapes when viewed in specific projections, unlike the quasispherical carbon fullerene morphology. The octahedral BN fullerene model [O. Stéphan, Y. Bando, A. Loiseau, F. Willaime, N. Shramchenko, T. Tamiya, and T. Sato, Appl. Phys. A 67, 107 (1998)] is verified by the BN fullerene observations at different viewing angles.

Theoretical infrared, Raman, and optical spectra of theB36N36cage

“…The vertical and adiabatic ionization potentials as well as static dipole polarizability are also reported. [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10].On the experimental side, there are also a few reports of synthesis of hollow BN structures [10,11,12,13,14].In a series of experiments by Oku and coorkwers, boron nitride clusters of different sizes were reported [10,11,12].Perhaps the most interesting result of these works was the production of B 24 N 24 in abundance. We performed theoretical calculations [8,9] …”

“…On the experimental side, there are also a few reports of synthesis of hollow BN structures [10,11,12,13,14].…”

“…We performed theoretical calculations [8,9] [14]. From the high resolution transmission electron microscopy images (HRTEM), they observed single-shelled cages of size 9-10Å, with rectanglelike outlines.…”

Synthesis of WS2 and MoS2 fullerene-like nanoparticles from solid precursors

“…It was found, for example, Nano Res (2009) 2: 416 424 that such nanoparticles can serve as superior solid lubricants [20] and can improve the mechanical properties of various nanocomposites [21,22]. The synthetic methods employed to produce IF nanoparticles and INT can be divided roughly into two categories: (1) far from equilibrium processes such as laser ablation [23], arc discharge [14] and electron beam irradiation [3,24,25] and (2) chemical methods like chemical vapor transport [26] which operate in a regime closer to equilibrium and generate higher yields [27,28]. A successful scalingup for the synthesis of INT-WS 2 with a fl uidized bed reactor was recently reported [29].…”

Ion irradiation of multi‐walled boron nitride nanotubes

“…In these systems, the atoms are arranged in a similar honeycomb lattice, but in BN nanotubes [1,2], fullerenes [3] and single BN sheets [4] alternating B and N atoms substitute for C atoms. Mechanical properties of BN and C nanotubes are of the same impressive order, but BN tubes possess higher thermal and chemical stability [5].…”