Spectral properties of spherical boron nitride prepared using carbon spheres as template

Abstract Spherical boron nitride nanoparticles have been successfully fabricated by temperature-controlled pyrolysis procedure in a N 2 atmosphere, using boron acid and urea as the precursors. The carbon spheres were prepared from glucose (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) by a hydrothermal method as a template to be used. Comprehensive scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier infrared spectrum (IR) characterizations all confirm that the obtained products are spherical boron nitride. The amount of C 6 H 12 O 6 and reaction time were found to affect the morphology and structure of the as-prepared products. The average diameter of the spherical boron nitride nanoparticles synthesized with the addition of C 6 H 12 O 6 is about 0.3–1 µm. The spherical boron nitride has a high surface area of 176.78 m 2 g −1 and ~3.5 nm pore size. The as-synthesized nanospheres also exhibit strong photoluminescence (PL) bands at 436, 454, 486, and 616 nm under 312 nm excitation, indicating that they could have potential application in novel optical devices.