Synthesis of BN, B4C, BP and Borides

Nanomaterials of boron-containing inorganic compounds and borides have received considerable attention due to their potential application in electronics, op- 

Boron carbide (B4C) is one of the hardest known materials with excellent properties of low density, very high chemical and thermal stability, and high neutron absorption cross-section. Bulk B4C is conventionally synthesized by high temperature (up to 2400 °C) reactions, such as the carbothermal reduction of boric acid or boron oxide. Nanocrystalline B4C was solvothermally synthesized in CCI4 at 600 °C (Reaction (32)). 

Boron phosphide (BP), a semiconductor with an indirect band gap of 2 eV, is one of the most promising high-temperature thermoelectric materials due to its outstanding chemical, mechanical, optical and thermal properties. Traditionally, BP is 

The en molecules play an important role in controlling the nucleation and growth of the CdS nanorods. As a bidentate ligand, en molecules may react with Cd + ions and form relatively stable complexes. Under appropriate solvothermal conditions, the complexes become unstable and decompose, which results in the formation of CdS nanorods [lOOj. A mono-dentate ligand, n-butylamrne, was found to be a shape controller for nanorods of CdS and MSe (M = Zn, Cd or Pb) [101]. Similarly, the precursor of ZnE(en)o.s (E = S, Se) could also form in en which then is converted to ZnSe nanopartides via pyrolysis in solvothermal conditions [102]. The coordinating ability of the solvent was found to play an important role in the nucleation and growth of nanocrystallites [103]. 

The metastable f - and y-MnS crystallites were obtained at about 200 °C in tetra-hydrofuran and benzene, whereas in water, ammonia liquor, en, the metastable phases converted to the stable phase of a-MnS [119]. However, only the stable phase of a-MnSe can be obtained by solvothermal reaction at 190 °C in en [120]. 

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