SYNTHESIS OF TITANIUM BORIDE (TIB)(2) NANOCRYSTALLITES BY SOLUTION-PHASE PROCESSING

Nanocrystalline TiB2 is prepared by reaction of NaBH4 and TiCl4. The initial solution-phase reaction affords an amorphous precursor powder from which 5-100 nm TiB2 crystallites are obtained upon annealing at 900-1100 degrees C. Crystallite sizes depend on the annealing temperature and other processing parameters, Crystallite morphology is size dependent; crystallites smaller than 12-15 nm are cuboidal, whereas crystallites larger than 12-15 nm are hexagonal platelets. The procedure affords gram quantities of the smallest available TiB2 nanocrystallites.