Synthesis, Structure, and Properties of Mesoporous B/C/N Microspheres

Reaction of low surface area carbon with a mixture of urea and boric acid at 930 degrees C yields a composition close to BC4N with a graphitic structure. BC4N was characterized by electron energy loss spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. BC4N is a Porous ceramic with a surface area of 428 m(2).g(-1), and shows a CO2 Uptake of 40 wt-%. The layered structure of BC4N involves a random distribution of boron, carbon, and nitrogen atoms and shows high thermal stability Lip to 1000 degrees C. A comparative analysis of the structure and properties of BC4N and graphene using first-principles pseudopotential based density functional theoretical calculations is presented. The calculations predict it to be all insulator. The bulk modulus of BC4N exhibits all interesting dependence oil the ordering of boron and nitrogen oil the graphene lattice.