High‐Temperature Laser‐Assisted Synthesis of Boron Nanorods, Nanowires, and Bamboo‐Like Nanotubes. Issue 1 (8th December 2022) - Adebisi, Mufutau A.
Abstract : A double‐pulsed laser ablation (DPLA) method has been used to synthesize crystalline boron nanorods (BNRs), boron nanowires (BNWs), and bamboo‐like boron nanotubes (BBNTs) from bulk boron (BKB). A q‐switched Nd: YAG laser operating at the first and second harmonic wavelengths with 1064 and 532 nm is used to ablate a solid composite boron target doped with 1% Ni and 1% Co in a tube furnace in flowing argon gas. Boron nanostructures in the form of BNRs, BNWs, and BBNTs are condensed from the hot laser‐induced plasma plume at furnace temperatures of 800, 900, and 1000 °C. The morphology and the chemical and optical nature of the nanostructures are identified from X‐ray diffraction, electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, Raman, UV–vis, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies. The results confirm the crystallinity and phase purity of the boron‐nanomaterials and that they are preferentially grown in the c‐axis direction of α‐boron. The as‐synthesized BNRs, BNWs, and BBNTs are observed to have lengths of 0.2–1.5 μm and widths between 10 and 100 nm, and show respective PL resonance emission peaks at 330, 331, and 333 nm, and the electrical conductivities of 312, 313, and 324 S cm −1 at room temperature which are higher than the electrical conductivity of BKB. Abstract : Herein, the synthesis of boron nanorods (BNRs), nanowires (BNWs), and bamboo‐like nanotubes (BBNTs) is reported. Double laser pulses at 532 and 1064 nm ablate a boron/nickel/cobalt target in a furnace at temperatures between 800 and 1000 °C. The hot laser‐induced plasma, in the presence of bimetallic transitional catalysts, a flowing argon gas creates conditions that are conducive to the nucleation of crystalline boron nanostructures.