Hydrogen-Catalyzed, Pilot-Scale Production of Small-Diameter Boron Nitride Nanotubes and Their Macroscopic Assemblies

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) exhibit a range of properties that are as compelling as those of carbon nanotubes (CNTs); however, very low production volumes have prevented the science and technology of BNNTs from evolving at even a fraction of the pace of CNTs. Here we report the high-yield production of small-diameter BNNTs from pure hexagonal boron nitride powder in an induction thermal plasma process. Few-walled, highly crystalline small-diameter BNNTs (similar to 5 nm) are produced exclusively and at an unprecedentedly high rate approaching 20 g/h, without the need for metal catalysts. An exceptionally high cooling rate (similar to 10(5) K/s) in the induction plasma provides a strong driving force for the abundant nucleation of small-sized B droplets, which are known as effective precursors for small-diameter BNNTs. It is also found that the addition of hydrogen to the reactant gases is crucial for achieving such high-quality, high-yield growth of BNNTs. In the plasma process, hydrogen inhibits the formation of N-2 from N radicals and promotes the creation of B-N-H intermediate species, which provide faster chemical pathways to the re-formation of a h-BN-like phase in comparison to nitridation from N-2. We also demonstrate the fabrication of macroscopic BNNT assemblies such as yarns, sheets, buckypapers, and transparent thin films at large scales. These findings represent a seminal milestone toward the exploitation of BNNTs in real-world applications.