Preparation of boron nitride nanotubes coated with tiny hair-like structures

Boron nitride nanotubes with tiny hair-like coatings were prepared by a simple process. The method involved milling boron oxide in nitrogen gas and heating the samples at 1200°C in the presence of flowing ammonia gas. The BN nanotube is a hexagonal crystal structure with a bamboo-like morphology. The diameters of as-synthesized nanotubes range from 80 nm to 120 nm and the lengths are up to 1 μm. The tiny hair-like coatings on the nanotubes are also hexagonal BN with typical lengths of about 100 nm and diameters less than 10 nm.