Synthesis of boron nitride nanotubes using glass fabrics as catalyst growth framework.

High quality BNNTs have been prepared by a combined chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and self-propagation high-temperature synthesis (SHS) method using industrial glass fabrics as the growth catalyst and the products collecting substrate. The products and the glass fabrics were characterized by SEM, TEM, HRTEM, SAED, XPS, EDX, XRD, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The BNNTs reveal an average length of about 10 μm and a fairly broad diameter distribution from tens to hundreds of nanometers. The possible chemical reactions and a novel self-cracking vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth mechanism were also proposed to appropriately explain the formation processes of BNNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]