Synthesis of Boron Carbide Nanowires and Nanoflakes from Commercially Available B4C Powders

Boron carbide is a light weight refractory semiconductor material with high melting point , high strength and high temperature thermoelectric properties [1-2]. Different methods have been reported for production of boron carbide nanowires and other nano-sized elongated shapes. Zhang et al. [3] reported the synthesis of B4C nanowires by PECVD method. Pender et al. [4] prepared aligned boron carbide nanowires by pyrolyzing a polymeric precursor in porous alumina templates. Wei et al. [5] also reported the formation of B4C nanorods by the reaction of boron and CNTs. However, the quantity and quality of boron carbide nanowires are low and their mass production is expensive through some of a few successful methods. The aim of the present work is to investigate the synthesis of boron carbide nanowires and nanoflakes by a catalyst-assisted thermal evaporation process with commercially available B4C powder as the source material. The final sample is completely composed of B4C particles and nanostructures and does not need purification which have a great potential application as the reinforcement phase in metal and ceramic matrix composites