Thermal stability of mesoporous boron nitride templated with a cationic surfactant

The preparation of mesoporous boron nitride by using tris(monomethylamino)borazine (MAB) as boron nitride source and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as structurating agent is reported. The X-ray diffraction, TEM and pore size analysis show that highly porous boron nitride (specific surface area of 800 m(2)/g and mesoporous volume of 0.5 cm(3)/g) is synthesized with mesopores of 6 nm in diameter. Moreover, the mesoporosity is conserved up to 1600 degrees C under an inert atmosphere. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.