Tailoring the morphology through alkali treatment: Dynamics of pattern formation

Abstract

Diversified technological applications necessitate the tailoring of morphology of materials at nanoscale. This paper reports morphological modifications of boron carbide (BC) at nanoscale through alkali (NaOH) treatment. The multilayered hollow microspheres of BC, obtained by the refluxion of castor oil with boric acid, are subjected to exfoliation by sonicating it in the ethanol–water mixture. The attractive morphologies evolved in the sonication process as a result of changing the BC concentration, auxiliary agent and sonication time are analysed. The multilayered hollow structure on sonication with NaOH yields flower-like morphology that seems to evolve from the basic spindle structure. The morphological tuning makes the study relevant in the areas like bleaching, where the surface area is crucial.