Maguer A, Arenal R, Jaffrennou P, Cochon J L, Bresson L, Doris E, Mioskowski C, Loiseau A
Laboratoire d'Etude des Microstructures, ONERA, 29 avenue de la division Leclerc, 92322 Châtillon cedex, France.
J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2007 Oct;7(10):3528-32. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2007.829.
Continuous laser vaporization of a BN target under N2 atmosphere is up to now the unique route to single-walled boron nitride nanotubes (BN-SWNTs). Although grams of product can be obtained by this technique, the raw material contains in addition to the BN-SWNTs, different by-products made of boron and nitrogen. Since these materials are undesirable for the studying of the intrinsic properties of the nanotubes, we have undertaken a purification process using chemical and physical methods to separate the different components. We show here that most impurities can be removed by successive cycles of washing, sonication, and centrifugation. Furthermore, the two different types of boron nitride nanostructures i.e., BN-SWNTs and BN-cages can be isolated. Efficiency of the separation was monitored by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) at the different steps of the process. Finally, we envisage the further purification of the nanotubes-enriched fraction by functionalizing the nanotubes in a non covalent manner by specific polymers as for carbon nanotubes and BN multi-walled nanotubes.
在氮气气氛下对氮化硼靶材进行连续激光蒸发，是目前制备单壁氮化硼纳米管（BN - SWNTs）的唯一途径。尽管通过该技术能够获得克级产物，但原料中除了BN - SWNTs外，还包含由硼和氮构成的不同副产物。由于这些材料对于研究纳米管的本征性质而言是不理想的，我们采用化学和物理方法进行了纯化过程，以分离不同的组分。我们在此表明，通过连续的洗涤、超声处理和离心循环，可以去除大多数杂质。此外，两种不同类型的氮化硼纳米结构，即BN - SWNTs和BN - 笼状结构可以被分离出来。在该过程的不同步骤中，通过透射电子显微镜（TEM）监测分离效率。最后，我们设想通过使用特定聚合物以非共价方式对纳米管进行功能化，如同对碳纳米管和BN多壁纳米管那样，进一步纯化富含纳米管的部分。
