Amorphous boron nitride

Amorphous boron nitride (a-BN) can be synthesized by decomposition of B-trichloroborazine and cesium [23]. Such layers are applied during production of semiconductor devices [24]. 

Highly crystalline hexagonal boron nitride layers can be formed on graphite layers which have been obtained from the CVD of benzene [128]. Low-pressure CVD originating from 2,4,6-trichloroborazine on graphite, metallic, and oxide ceramic substrates at 1050°C leads to dense, amorphous boron nitride deposits [129] see also [130]. Ceramics are frequently coated or infiltrated with a-BN by the different chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods already... 

A colorless gel formed which was isolated by vacuum evaporation of the volatiles. The resulting colorless glassy solid was pyrolyzed in vacuo at 900°C for 24 hours in a quartz tube and the evolved volatiles identified as NH3 and NH4CI. The remaining solid was briefly (2 hours) heated in air at 1200°C in order to remove minor carbon impurities and to improve crystallinity. This solid was then treated at room temperature with 40% aqueous HF to remove boric acid and silica formed in small quantities. The solid obtained at 900°C was identified as boron nitride however, the majority of the material was amorphous. After treatment at 1200°C, white crystalline boron-nitride was obtained in about 55% yield. 

Evolution did not use this element, only in certain plants is it important as a trace element. The element became well-known because of heat-resistant borosilicate glasses. Boranes are chemically interesting as B-H bonds react very specifically. Perborates are used in laundry detergents (Persil). The hardness of cubic boron nitride approaches that of diamond. Amorphous (brown) boron burns very quickly and gives off much heat and is therefore used in solid-propellant rockets and in igniters in airbags. 

Boron-containing nonoxide amorphous or crystalline advanced ceramics, including boron nitride (BN), boron carbide (B4C), boron carbonitride (B/C/N), and boron silicon carbonitride Si/B/C/N, can be prepared via the preceramic polymers route called the polymer-derived ceramics (PDCs) route, using convenient thermal and chemical processes. Because the preparation of BN has been the most in demand and widespread boron-based material during the past two decades, this chapter provides an overview of the conversion of boron- and nitrogen-containing polymers into advanced BN materials. 

The multilayer nanocomposite films containing layers of quasi-spherical Fe nanoparticles (d — 5.8 nm) separated by dielectric layers from boron nitride (BN) are synthesized by the repeated alternating deposition of BN and Fe onto a silicon substrate [54]. In this work the authors managed to realize the correlation in the arrangement of Fe nanoparticles between the layers the thin BN layer deposited on the Fe layer has a wave-like relief, on which the disposition of Fe nanoparticles is imprinted as a result, the next Fe layer deposited onto BN reproduces the structure of the previous Fe layer. Thus, a three-dimensional ordered system of the nanoparticles has been formed on the basis of the initial ordered Fe nanoparticle layer deposited on silicon substrate [54]. The analogous three-dimensional structure composed of the Co nanoparticles layers, which alternate the layers of amorphous A1203, has been obtained by the PVD method [55]. 

Bando and co-workers271 have prepared BN nanolubes by the reaction of MgO, FeO and B in the presence of NH, at 1400 °C. Reaction of boric acid or B20, with N2 or NH, at high temperatures in the presence of carbon or catalytic metal particles has been employed in the preparation of BN nanotubes.2 2 Boron nitride nanotubes can be grown directly on substrates at 873 K by a plasma-enhanced laser-deposition technique.172 Recently, GaN nanotube brushes have been prepared using amorphous carbon nanotubes templates obtained using AAO membranes.274... 

Elemental boron is a refractory material that is usually isolated either as a shiny black crystalline solid or a softer, browner, more impure amorphous solid. Reduction of readily available boron compounds containing boron oxygen bonds to elemental boron is energy intensive and costly. This has limited the extent of conunercial use of this material. Many related refractory boron compounds have been prepared and characterized including metal borides, boron carbides, boron nitrides, and various boron metal alloys. These refractory materials and elemental boron are also discussed in some detail in the article Borides Solid-state Chemistry. Other general references are available on elemental boron and other refractory boron compounds. " ... 

S. Watanabe, S. Miyake, and M. Murakawa. Tribological Properties of Cubic, Amorphous and Hexagonal Boron Nitride Films. Surf. Coatings Technol. 49 406 (1991). 

During their genesis all precursor derived ceramics pass through an amorphous state which in certain cases is stable up to the respective decomposition temperature. The propensity to crystaUize is strongest for the binary silicon and boron nitrides and carbides, while in particular quaternary materials out of the Si/B/N/C system show the strongest resistance towards crystallization. It is interesting to note that in any case investigated, so far, the amorphous multinary ceramics decompose into the binary border phases upon crystallization - crystalline ternary silicon boron nitrides or carbides are not known to date cf. [9]. 

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