Synthesis of boron carbide nanoflakes via a bamboo-based carbon thermal reduction method

Boron carbide nanoflakes have been successfully synthesized by a facile and cost-effective bamboo-based carbon thermal reduction method. The majority of the boron carbide products exhibited a flake-like morphology with lateral dimensions of 0.5-50 mu m in width and more than 50 mu m in length, while the thickness was less than 150 nm. The structural, morphological, and elemental analyses demonstrated that these nanoflakes grew via the fluoride-assisted vapor-liquid-solid combined with vapor-solid growth mechanism. The corresponding growth model was proposed. In addition, the electrical property of individual boron carbide nanoflake was investigated by an in situ two point method inside a transmission electron microscope. The resistivity of boron carbide nanoflakes was measured to be 0.14 M Omega cm. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.