Boron nitride

Boron nitride is a chemical compound

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

 with chemical formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....

 BN, consisting of equal numbers of boron

Boron

Boron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a metalloid. Because boron is not produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust. However, boron is concentrated on Earth by the...

 and nitrogen

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...

 atoms. BN is isoelectronic to a similarly structured carbon

Carbon

Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...

 lattice and thus exists in various crystalline forms

Polymorphism (materials science)

Polymorphism in materials science is the ability of a solid material to exist in more than one form or crystal structure. Polymorphism can potentially be found in any crystalline material including polymers, minerals, and metals, and is related to allotropy, which refers to chemical elements...

. The hexagonal form

Hexagonal crystal system

In crystallography, the hexagonal crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems, the hexagonal lattice system is one of the 7 lattice systems, and the hexagonal crystal family is one of the 6 crystal families...

 corresponding to graphite

Graphite

The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...

 is the most stable and softest among BN polymorphs, and is therefore used as a lubricant and an additive to cosmetic products. The cubic (sphalerite structure) variety analogous to diamond

Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

 is called c-BN. Its hardness is inferior only to diamond, but its thermal and chemical stability is superior. The rare wurtzite

Wurtzite crystal structure

thumb|150px|right|General hexagonal crystal structureThe wurtzite crystal structure, named after the mineral wurtzite, is a crystal structure for various binary compounds. It is an example of a hexagonal crystal system....

 BN modification is similar to lonsdaleite

Lonsdaleite

Lonsdaleite , also called hexagonal diamond in reference to the crystal structure, is an allotrope of carbon with a hexagonal lattice. In nature, it forms when meteorites containing graphite strike the Earth. The great heat and stress of the impact transforms the graphite into diamond, but retains...

 and may even be harder than the cubic form.

Boron nitride is not found in nature and is therefore produced synthetically from boric acid

Boric acid

Boric acid, also called hydrogen borate or boracic acid or orthoboric acid or acidum boricum, is a weak acid of boron often used as an antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant, as a neutron absorber, and as a precursor of other chemical compounds. It exists in the form of colorless crystals or a...

 or boron trioxide

Boron trioxide

Boron trioxide is one of the oxides of boron. It is a white, glassy solid with the formula B2O3. It is almost always found as the vitreous form; however, it can be crystallized after extensive annealing...

. The initial product is amorphous BN powder, which is converted to crystalline h-BN by heating in nitrogen flow at temperatures above 1500 °C. c-BN is made by annealing

Annealing (metallurgy)

Annealing, in metallurgy and materials science, is a heat treatment wherein a material is altered, causing changes in its properties such as strength and hardness. It is a process that produces conditions by heating to above the recrystallization temperature, maintaining a suitable temperature, and...

 h-BN powder at higher temperatures, under pressures above 5 GPa. Contrary to diamond, larger c-BN pellets can be produced by fusing (sintering

Sintering

Sintering is a method used to create objects from powders. It is based on atomic diffusion. Diffusion occurs in any material above absolute zero, but it occurs much faster at higher temperatures. In most sintering processes, the powdered material is held in a mold and then heated to a temperature...

) relatively cheap c-BN powders. As a result, c-BN is widely used in mechanical applications.

Because of excellent thermal and chemical stability, boron nitride ceramics are traditionally used as parts of high-temperature equipment. Boron nitride has a great potential in nanotechnology. Nanotubes of BN can be produced that have a structure similar to that of carbon nanotube

Carbon nanotube

Carbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, significantly larger than for any other material...

s, i.e. graphene (or BN) sheets rolled on themselves, however the properties are very different: whereas carbon nanotubes can be metallic or semiconducting depending on the rolling direction and radius, a BN nanotube is an electrical insulator with a wide bandgap of ~5.5 eV (same as in diamond), which is almost independent of tube chirality and morphology. Similar to other BN forms, BN nanotubes are more thermally and chemically stable than carbon nanotubes which favors them for some applications.

Structure

Boron nitride has been produced in an amorphous (a-BN) and crystalline forms. The most stable crystalline form is the hexagonal one, also called h-BN, α-BN, or g-BN (graphitic BN). It has a layered structure similar to graphite. Within each layer, boron and nitrogen atoms are bound by strong covalent bond

Covalent bond

A covalent bond is a form of chemical bonding that is characterized by the sharing of pairs of electrons between atoms. The stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atoms when they share electrons is known as covalent bonding....

s, whereas the layers are held together by weak van der Waals force

Van der Waals force

In physical chemistry, the van der Waals force , named after Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, is the sum of the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules other than those due to covalent bonds or to the electrostatic interaction of ions with one another or with neutral...

s. The interlayer "registry" of these sheets differs, however, from the pattern seen for graphite, because the atoms are eclipsed, with boron atoms lying over and above nitrogen atoms. This registry reflects the polarity of the B-N bonds. Still, h-BN and graphite are very close neighbors and even the BC₆N hybrids have been synthesized where carbon substitutes for some B and N atoms.

As diamond is less stable than graphite, cubic BN is less stable than h-BN, but the conversion rate between those forms is negligible at room temperature. The cubic form has the sphalerite crystal structure, same as diamond structure, and is also called β-BN or c-BN. The wurtzite

Wurtzite crystal structure

thumb|150px|right|General hexagonal crystal structureThe wurtzite crystal structure, named after the mineral wurtzite, is a crystal structure for various binary compounds. It is an example of a hexagonal crystal system....

 BN form (w-BN) has similar structure as lonsdaleite, rare hexagonal polymorph of carbon. In both c-BN and w-BN boron and nitrogen atoms are grouped into tetrahedra, but the angles between neighboring tetrahedra are different.

α-BN, hexagonal	β-BN, sphalerite Sphalerite Sphalerite is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides...  structure	BN, wurtzite Wurtzite crystal structure thumb|150px|right|General hexagonal crystal structureThe wurtzite crystal structure, named after the mineral wurtzite, is a crystal structure for various binary compounds. It is an example of a hexagonal crystal system....  structure

Physical

Properties of amorphous and crystalline BN, graphite and diamond.
Some properties of h-BN and graphite differ within the basal planes (║) and perpendicular to them (╧)

Material	a-BN	h-BN	c-BN	w-BN	graphite	diamond
Density (g/cm3)	2.28	~2.1	3.45	3.49	~2.1	3.515
Mohs hardness		1–2	~10	~10	1–2	10
Knoop hardness Knoop hardness test The Knoop hardness test is a microhardness test - a test for mechanical hardness used particularly for very brittle materials or thin sheets, where only a small indentation may be made for testing purposes...  (GPa)	10		45	34		100
Bulk modulus Bulk modulus The bulk modulus of a substance measures the substance's resistance to uniform compression. It is defined as the pressure increase needed to decrease the volume by a factor of 1/e...  (GPa)	100	36.5	400	400	34	440
Thermal conductivity Thermal conductivity In physics, thermal conductivity, k, is the property of a material's ability to conduct heat. It appears primarily in Fourier's Law for heat conduction....  (W/cm K)	0.03	6║; 0.3 ┴	7.4		2–20║; 0.02–0.8┴	6–20
Thermal expansion Thermal expansion Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to change in volume in response to a change in temperature.When a substance is heated, its particles begin moving more and thus usually maintain a greater average separation. Materials which contract with increasing temperature are rare; this effect is...  (10−6/°C)		−2.7║; 38┴	1.2	2.7	−1.5║; 25┴	0.8
Bandgap (eV)	5.05	5.2	6.4	4.5–5.5	0	5.5
Refractive index Refractive index In optics the refractive index or index of refraction of a substance or medium is a measure of the speed of light in that medium. It is expressed as a ratio of the speed of light in vacuum relative to that in the considered medium....	1.7	1.8	2.1	2.05		2.4
Magnetic susceptibility Magnetic susceptibility In electromagnetism, the magnetic susceptibility \chi_m is a dimensionless proportionality constant that indicates the degree of magnetization of a material in response to an applied magnetic field...  (µemu/g)		−0.48║; -17.3┴			−0.2..-2.7║; -20..-28┴	−1.6

Sources: amorphous BN, crystalline BN, graphite, diamond.

The partly ionic

Ionic bond

An ionic bond is a type of chemical bond formed through an electrostatic attraction between two oppositely charged ions. Ionic bonds are formed between a cation, which is usually a metal, and an anion, which is usually a nonmetal. Pure ionic bonding cannot exist: all ionic compounds have some...

 structure of BN layers in h-BN reduces covalency and electrical conductivity, whereas the interlayer interaction increases resulting in higher hardness of h-BN relative to graphite. The reduced electron-delocalization in hexagonal-BN is also indicated by its absence of color and a large band gap

Band gap

In solid state physics, a band gap, also called an energy gap or bandgap, is an energy range in a solid where no electron states can exist. In graphs of the electronic band structure of solids, the band gap generally refers to the energy difference between the top of the valence band and the...

. Very different bonding – strong covalent within the basal planes (planes where boron and nitrogen atoms are covalently bonded) and weak between them – causes high anisotropy

Anisotropy

Anisotropy is the property of being directionally dependent, as opposed to isotropy, which implies identical properties in all directions. It can be defined as a difference, when measured along different axes, in a material's physical or mechanical properties An example of anisotropy is the light...

 of most properties of h-BN.

For example, the hardness, electrical and thermal conductivity are much higher within the planes than perpendicular to them. On the contrary, the properties of c-BN and w-BN are more homogeneous.

Those materials are extremely hard, with the hardness of c-BN being slightly smaller and w-BN even higher than that of diamond. Because of much better stability to heat and metals, c-BN surpasses diamond in mechanical applications. The thermal conductivity of BN is among the highest of all electric insulators (see table).

Boron nitride can be doped p-type with Be and n-type with boron, sulfur, silicon or if co-doped with carbon and nitrogen. Both hexagonal and cubic BN are wide-gap semiconductors with a band gap energy corresponding to the UV region. If voltage is applied to h-BN or c-BN, then it emits UV light in the range 215–250 nm and therefore can potentially be used as light emitting diodes (LEDs) or lasers.

Little is known on melting behavior of boron nitride. It sublimates at 2973 °C at normal pressure releasing nitrogen gas and boron, but melts at elevated pressure.

Thermal stability

Hexagonal and cubic (and probably w-BN) BN show remarkable chemical and thermal stabilities. For example, h-BN is stable to decomposition in temperatures up to 1000 °C in air, 1400 °C in vacuum, and 2800 °C in an inert atmosphere. The reactivity of h-BN and c-BN is relatively similar, and the data for c-BN are summarized in the table below.

Reactivity of c-BN with solids

Solid	Ambient	Action	Threshold T (°C)
Mo	10−2 Pa vacuum	reaction	1360
Ni	10−2 Pa vacuum	wetting Wetting Wetting is the ability of a liquid to maintain contact with a solid surface, resulting from intermolecular interactions when the two are brought together. The degree of wetting is determined by a force balance between adhesive and cohesive forces.Wetting is important in the bonding or adherence of...	1360
Fe, Ni, Co	argon	react	1400–1500
Al	10−2 Pa vacuum	wetting and reaction	1050
Si	10−3 Pa vacuum	wetting	1500
Cu, Ag, Au, Ga, In, Ge, Sn	10−3 Pa vacuum	no wetting	1100
B		no wetting	2200
Al2O3 + B2O3	10−2 Pa vacuum	no reaction	1360

Thermal stability of c-BN can be summarized as follows:

• In air or oxygen: B₂O₃ protective layer prevents further oxidation to ~1300 °C; no conversion to hexagonal form at 1400 °C.
• In nitrogen: some conversion to h-BN at 1525 °C after 12 h.
• In vacuum (10⁻⁵ Pa): conversion to h-BN at 1550–1600 °C.

Chemical stability

Boron nitride is insoluble in usual acids, but is soluble in alkaline molten salts and nitrides, such as LiOH, KOH, NaOH-Na₂CO₃, NaNO₃, Li₃N, Mg₃N₂, Sr₃N₂, Ba₃N₂ or Li₃BN₂, which are therefore used to etch BN.

Thermal conductivity

The theoretical thermal conductivity of hexagonal Boron nitride nanoribbons (BNNRs) can approach 1700–2000 W/(m·K), which has the same order of magnitude as the experimental measured value for graphene

Graphene

Graphene is an allotrope of carbon, whose structure is one-atom-thick planar sheets of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. The term graphene was coined as a combination of graphite and the suffix -ene by Hanns-Peter Boehm, who described single-layer...

, and can be comparable to the theoretical calculations for graphene nanoribbons. Moreover, the thermal transport in the BNNRs is anisotropic. The thermal conductivity of zigzag-edged BNNRs is about 20% larger than that of armchair-edged nanoribbons at room temperature.

Synthesis

Boron nitride has not been found in nature and therefore is produced synthetically. The most common raw materials for BN synthesis, boric acid and boron trioxide are produced on industrial scales by treating minerals borax

Borax

Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.Borax has a wide variety of uses...

 and colemanite

Colemanite

Colemanite is a borate mineral found in evaporite deposits of alkaline lacustrine environments. Colemanite is a secondary mineral that forms by alteration of borax and ulexite....

 with sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...

 or hydrochloric acid

Hydrochloric acid

Hydrochloric acid is a solution of hydrogen chloride in water, that is a highly corrosive, strong mineral acid with many industrial uses. It is found naturally in gastric acid....

:

Na₂B₄O₇·10H₂O (borax) + H₂SO₄ → 4 H₃BO₃ (boric acid) + Na₂SO₄ + 5 H₂O

Boron trioxide is obtained by heating boric acid.

Preparation and reactivity of hexagonal BN

Hexagonal boron nitride is obtained by the reacting boron trioxide (B₂O₃) or boric acid (B(OH)₃) with ammonia

Ammonia

Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...

 (NH₃) or urea

Urea

Urea or carbamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula CO2. The molecule has two —NH2 groups joined by a carbonyl functional group....

 (CO(NH₂)₂) in nitrogen atmosphere:

B₂O₃ + 2 NH₃ → 2 BN + 3 H₂O (T = 900 °C)

B(OH)₃ + NH₃ → BN + 3 H₂O (T = 900 °C)

B₂O₃ + CO(NH₂)₂ → 2 BN + CO₂ + 2 H₂O (T > 1000 °C)

B₂O₃ + 3 CaB₆ + 10 N₂ → 20 BN + 3 CaO (T > 1500 °C)

The resulting disordered (amorphous) boron nitride contains 92–95% BN and 5–8% B₂O₃. The remaining B₂O₃ can be evaporated in a second step at temperatures >1500 °C in order to achieve BN concentration >98%. Such annealing also crystallizes BN, the size of the crystallites increasing with the annealing temperature.

h-BN parts can be fabricated inexpensively by hot-pressing with subsequent machining. The parts are made from boron nitride powders adding boron oxide for better compressibility. Thin films of boron nitride can be obtained by chemical vapor deposition

Chemical vapor deposition

Chemical vapor deposition is a chemical process used to produce high-purity, high-performance solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films. In a typical CVD process, the wafer is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react and/or...

 from boron trichloride

Boron trichloride

Boron trichloride is a chemical compound with the formula BCl3. This colorless gas is a valuable reagent in organic synthesis. It is also dangerously reactive.-Production and properties:Boron reacts with halogens to give the corresponding trihalides...

 and nitrogen precursors. Combustion of boron powder in nitrogen plasma

Plasma (physics)

In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...

 at 5500 °C yields ultrafine

Ultrafine particles

Ultrafine particles are nanoscale, less than 100 nanometres. Regulations do not exist for this size class of ambient air pollution particles, which are far smaller than the regulated PM10 and PM2.5 size classes and are believed to have several more aggressive health implications than those classes...

 boron nitride used for lubricants and toner

Toner

Toner is a powder used in laser printers and photocopiers to form the printed text and images on the paper. In its early form it was simply carbon powder. Then, to improve the quality of the printout, the carbon was melt-mixed with a polymer...

s.

Boron nitride reacts with iodine fluoride

Iodine fluoride

Iodine fluoride may refer to:* Iodine monofluoride , IF* Iodine trifluoride , IF3* Iodine pentafluoride , IF5* Iodine heptafluoride , IF7...

 in trichlorofluoromethane

Trichlorofluoromethane

Trichlorofluoromethane, also called freon-11, CFC-11, or R-11, is a chlorofluorocarbon. It is a colorless, nearly odorless liquid that boils at about room temperature.- Uses :It was the first widely used refrigerant...

 at −30 °C to produce an extremely sensitive contact explosive

Contact explosive

Contact explosive generally refers to any substance that will explode when relatively small quantities of energy are applied to the substance, whether that be heat, light, sound, or physical pressure and even Alpha radiation.Examples include:...

, NI₃, in low yield.

Intercalation of hexagonal BN

Similar to graphite, various molecules, such as NH₃ or alkali metals, can be intercalated into hexagonal boron nitride, that is inserted between its layers. Both experiment and theory suggest the intercalation is much more difficult for BN than for graphite.

Preparation of cubic BN

Synthesis of c-BN uses same methods as that of diamond: Cubic boron nitride is produced by treating hexagonal boron nitride at high pressure and temperature, much as synthetic diamond

Synthetic diamond

Synthetic diamond is diamond produced in a technological process; as opposed to natural diamond, which is created in geological processes. Synthetic diamond is also widely known as HPHT diamond or CVD diamond, denoting the production method, High-Pressure High-Temperature synthesis and Chemical...

 is produced from graphite. Direct conversion of hexagonal boron nitride to the cubic form has been observed at pressures between 5 and 18 GPa and temperatures between 1730 and 3230 °C, that is similar parameters as for direct graphite-diamond conversion. The addition of a small amount of boron oxide can lower the required pressure to 4–7 GPa and temperature to 1500 °C. As in diamond synthesis, to further reduce the conversion pressures and temperatures, a catalyst is added, such as lithium, potassium, or magnesium, their nitrides, their fluoronitrides, water with ammonium compounds, or hydrazine. Other industrial synthesis methods, again borrowed from diamond growth, use crystal growth in a temperature gradient, or explosive shock wave

Shock wave

A shock wave is a type of propagating disturbance. Like an ordinary wave, it carries energy and can propagate through a medium or in some cases in the absence of a material medium, through a field such as the electromagnetic field...

. The shock wave method is used to produce material called heterodiamond

Heterodiamond

Heterodiamond is a superhard material containing boron, carbon, and nitrogen . It is formed at high temperatures and high pressures, e.g., by application of an explosive shock wave to a mixture of diamond and cubic boron nitride. The heterodiamond is a polycrystalline material coagulated with...

, a superhard compound of boron, carbon, and nitrogen.

Low-pressure deposition of thin films of cubic boron nitride is possible. As in diamond growth, the major problem is to suppress the growth of hexagonal phases (h-BN or graphite, respectively). Whereas in diamond growth this is achieved by adding hydrogen gas, boron trifluoride

Boron trifluoride

Boron trifluoride is the chemical compound with the formula BF3. This pungent colourless toxic gas forms white fumes in moist air. It is a useful Lewis acid and a versatile building block for other boron compounds.-Structure and bonding:...

 is used for c-BN. Ion beam deposition

Ion beam deposition

Ion Beam Deposition is a process of applying materials to a target through the application of an ion beam.thumb|Ion beam deposition setup with mass separator...

, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is a process used to deposit thin films from a gas state to a solid state on a substrate. Chemical reactions are involved in the process, which occur after creation of a plasma of the reacting gases...

, pulsed laser deposition

Pulsed laser deposition

Pulsed laser deposition is a thin film deposition technique where a high power pulsed laser beam is focused inside a vacuum chamber to strike a target of the material that is to be deposited...

, reactive sputtering

Sputter deposition

Sputter deposition is a physical vapor deposition method of depositing thin films by sputtering, that is ejecting, material from a "target," that is source, which then deposits onto a "substrate," such as a silicon wafer...

, and other physical vapor deposition

Physical vapor deposition

Physical vapor deposition is a variety of vacuum deposition and is a general term used to describe any of a variety of methods to deposit thin films by the condensation of a vaporized form of the desired film material onto various workpiece surfaces...

 methods are used as well.

Preparation of wurtzite BN

Wurtzite BN can be obtained via static high-pressure or dynamic shock methods. The limits of its stability are not well defined. Both c-BN and w-BN are formed by compressing h-BN, but formation of w-BN occurs at much lower temperatures close to 1700 °C.

Production statistics

Whereas the production and consumption figures for the raw materials used for BN synthesis, namely boric acid and boron trioxide, are well known (see boron

Boron

Boron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a metalloid. Because boron is not produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust. However, boron is concentrated on Earth by the...

), the corresponding numbers for the boron nitride are not listed in statistical reports. An estimate for the 1999 world production is 300 to 350 metric tons. The major producers and consumers of BN are located in the United States, Japan, China and Germany. In 2000, prices varied from about $75/kg to $120/kg for standard industrial-quality h-BN and were about up to $200–$400/kg for high purity BN grades.

Hexagonal BN

Hexagonal BN is the most widely used polymorph. It is a good lubricant at both low and high temperatures (up to 900 °C, even in an oxidizing atmosphere). h-BN lubricant is particularly useful when the electrical conductivity or chemical reactivity of graphite (alternative lubricant) would be problematic. Another advantage of h-BN over graphite is that its lubricity does not require water or gas molecules trapped between the layers. Therefore, h-BN lubricants can be used even in vacuum, e.g. in space applications. The lubricating properties of fine-grained h-BN are used in cosmetics

Cosmetics

Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...

, paint

Paint

Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...

s, dental cement

Dental cement

Dental cements are hard, brittle materials formed by mixing powder and liquid together. They are either resin cements or acid-base cements. In the latter the powder is a basic metal oxide or silicate and the liquid is acidic. An acid base reaction occurs with the formation of a metal salt which...

s, and pencil

Pencil

A pencil is a writing implement or art medium usually constructed of a narrow, solid pigment core inside a protective casing. The case prevents the core from breaking, and also from marking the user’s hand during use....

 leads.

Hexagonal BN was first used in cosmetics around 1940 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. However, because of its high price, h-BN was soon abandoned for this application. Its use was revitalized in the late 1990s with the optimization h-BN production processes, and currently h-BN is used by nearly all leading producers of cosmetic products for foundations

Foundation (cosmetics)

Foundation is a skin coloured cosmetic applied to the face to create an even, uniform colour to the complexion, to cover flaws, and, sometimes, to change the natural skintone. Foundation applied to the body is generally referred to as "body painting"....

, make-up, eye shadow

Eye shadow

Eye shadow is a cosmetic that is applied on the eyelids and under the eyebrows. It is commonly used to make the wearer's eyes stand out or look more attractive....

s, blushers, kohl pencils

Eye liner

Eye liner is a cosmetic used to define the eyes. It is applied around the contours of the eye to create a variety of aesthetic illusions. Although primarily aimed at females, it has broadened its appeal to the male market, known commonly by the portmanteau guyliner.-History:Eyeliner was first used...

, lipstick

Lipstick

Lipstick is a cosmetic product containing pigments, oils, waxes, and emollients that applies color, texture, and protection to the lips. Many varieties of lipstick are known. As with most other types of makeup, lipstick is typically, but not exclusively, worn by women...

s and other skincare products.

Because of its excellent thermal and chemical stability, boron nitride ceramics are traditionally used as parts of high-temperature equipment. h-BN can be included in ceramics, alloys, resins, plastics, rubbers, and other materials, giving them self-lubricating properties. Such materials are suitable for construction of e.g. bearings

Bearing (mechanical)

A bearing is a device to allow constrained relative motion between two or more parts, typically rotation or linear movement. Bearings may be classified broadly according to the motions they allow and according to their principle of operation as well as by the directions of applied loads they can...

 and in steelmaking. Plastics filled with BN have less thermal expansion as well as higher thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity. Due to its excellent dielectric and thermal properties, BN is used in electronics e.g. as a substrate for semiconductors, microwave-transparent windows, and as a structural material for seals.

Hexagonal BN is used in xerographic process

Xerography

Xerography is a dry photocopying technique invented by Chester Carlson in 1938, for which he was awarded on October 6, 1942. Carlson originally called his invention electrophotography...

 and laser printer

Laser printer

A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...

s as a charge leakage barrier layer of the photo drum. In the automotive industry, h-BN mixed with a binder (boron oxide) is used for sealing oxygen sensor

Oxygen sensor

An oxygen sensor, or lambda sensor, is an electronic device that measures the proportion of oxygen in the gas or liquid being analyzed. It was developed by the Robert Bosch GmbH company during the late 1960s under the supervision of Dr. Günter Bauman...

s, which provide feedback for adjusting fuel flow. The binder utilizes the unique temperature stability and insulating properties of h-BN.

Parts can be made of h-BN by hot pressing

Hot pressing

Hot pressing is a high-pressure, low-strain-rate powder metallurgy process for forming of a powder or powder compact at a temperature high enough to induce sintering and creep processes. This is achieved by the simultaneous application of heat and pressure....

. Union Carbide Corporation produces three grades of BN. HBN, with boron oxide binder

Binder (material)

-See also:*Adhesive or Glue*Cement*Paint...

, usable to 550–850 °C in oxidizing atmosphere and up to 1600 °C in vacuum, but due to the boron oxide content is sensitive to water. HBR uses calcium borate

Calcium borate

Calcium borate , also called Gerstley borate is a bluish white crystal with a very defined structure. It can be prepared by reacting calcium metal with boric acid. The resulting precipitate is calcium borate...

 binder and is usable at 1600 °C. HBC grade uses no binder and can be used to 3000 °C.

Cubic boron nitride

Cubic boron nitride (CBN or c-BN) is widely used as an abrasive

Abrasive

An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away...

. Its usefulness arises from its insolubility in iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

, nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

, and related alloys at high temperatures, whereas diamond is soluble in these metals to give carbides. Polycrystalline c-BN (PCBN) abrasives are therefore used for machining steel, whereas diamond abrasives are preferred for aluminum alloys, ceramics, and stone. When in contact with oxygen at high temperatures, BN forms a passivation layer of boron oxide. Boron nitride binds well with metals, due to formation of interlayers of metal borides or nitrides. Materials with cubic boron nitride crystals are often used in the tool bit

Tool bit

The term tool bit generally refers to a non-rotary cutting tool used in metal lathes, shapers, and planers. Such cutters are also often referred to by the set-phrase name of single-point cutting tool. The cutting edge is ground to suit a particular machining operation and may be resharpened or...

s of cutting tool

Cutting tool

In the context of machining, a cutting tool is any tool that is used to remove material from the workpiece by means of shear deformation. Cutting may be accomplished by single-point or multipoint tools. Single-point tools are used in turning, shaping, plaining and similar operations, and remove...

s. For grinding applications, softer binders, e.g. resin, porous ceramics, and soft metals, are used. Ceramic binders can be used as well. Commercial products are known under names "Borazon

Borazon

Borazon is a brand name of a cubic form of boron nitride . It is one of the hardest known materials, along with various forms of diamond and boron nitride. Borazon is a crystal created by heating equal quantities of boron and nitrogen at temperatures greater than 1800 °C at 7 GPa...

" (by Diamond Innovations), and "Elbor" or "Cubonite" (by Russian vendors). Similar to diamond, the combination in c-BN of highest thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity is ideal for heat spreaders. Contrary to diamond, large c-BN pellets can be produced in a simple process (called sintering) of annealing c-BN powders in nitrogen flow at temperatures slightly below the BN decomposition temperature. This ability of c-BN and h-BN powders to fuse allows cheap production of large BN parts.

As cubic boron nitride consists of light atoms and is very robust chemically and mechanically, it is one of the popular materials for X-ray membranes: low mass results in small X-ray absorption, and good mechanical properties allow usage of thin membranes, thus further reducing the absorption.

Amorphous boron nitride

Layers of amorphous boron nitride (a-BN) are used in some semiconductor devices, e.g. MISFET

MISFET

A MISFET is a metal–insulator–semiconductor field-effect transistor.MISFET is a more general term than MOSFET. All MOSFETs are MISFETs, but not all MISFETs are MOSFETs. The insulator in a MISFET is a dielectric which can be silicon oxide , but other materials can also be employed...

s. They can be prepared by chemical decomposition of trichloroborazine with caesium

Caesium

Caesium or cesium is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of 28 °C , which makes it one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at room temperature...

, or by thermal chemical vapor deposition methods. Thermal CVD can be also used for deposition of h-BN layers, or at high temperatures, c-BN.

Boron nitride fibers

Hexagonal BN can be prepared in the form of fibers, structurally similar to carbon fibers, by thermal decomposition of extruded borazine

Borazine

Borazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula 33. In this cyclic compound, the three BH units and three NH units alternate. The compound is isoelectronic and isostructural with benzene...

 (B₃N₃H₆) fibers with addition of boron oxide in a nitrogen atmosphere at 1800 °C. An alternative method is thermal decomposition of cellulose

Cellulose

Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....

 fibers impregnated with boric acid or ammonium tetraborate in an atmosphere of ammonia and nitrogen above 1000 °C. Boron nitride fibers are used as reinforcement in composite material

Composite material

Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...

s, with the matrix materials ranging from organic resins to ceramics to metals (see Metal matrix composites).

Boron nitride nanomesh

Boron nitride nanomesh

Nanomesh

The nanomesh is a new inorganic nanostructured two-dimensional material, similar to graphene. It was discovered in 2003 at the University of Zurich, Switzerland....

 is an inorganic nanostructured two-dimensional material. It consists of a single BN layer, which forms by self-assembly

Self-assembly

Self-assembly is a term used to describe processes in which a disordered system of pre-existing components forms an organized structure or pattern as a consequence of specific, local interactions among the components themselves, without external direction...

 a highly regular mesh after high-temperature exposure of a clean rhodium

Rhodium

Rhodium is a chemical element that is a rare, silvery-white, hard and chemically inert transition metal and a member of the platinum group. It has the chemical symbol Rh and atomic number 45. It is composed of only one isotope, 103Rh. Naturally occurring rhodium is found as the free metal, alloyed...

 or ruthenium

Ruthenium

Ruthenium is a chemical element with symbol Ru and atomic number 44. It is a rare transition metal belonging to the platinum group of the periodic table. Like the other metals of the platinum group, ruthenium is inert to most chemicals. The Russian scientist Karl Ernst Claus discovered the element...

 surface to borazine under ultra-high vacuum. The nanomesh looks like an assembly of hexagonal pores. The distance between 2 pore centers is 3.2 nm and the pore diameter is ~2 nm.

The boron nitride nanomesh is not only stable to decomposition under vacuum, air and some liquids, but also up to temperatures of 800 °C. In addition, it shows the extraordinary ability to trap molecules and metallic clusters

Cluster (physics)

In physics, the term clusters denotes small, multiatom particles. As a rule of thumb, any particle of somewhere between 3 and 3x107 atoms is considered a cluster. Two-atom particles are sometimes considered clusters as well....

 which have similar sizes to the nanomesh pores, forming a well-ordered array. These characteristics promise interesting applications of the nanomesh in areas like nanocatalysis, surface functionalisation, spintronics

Spintronics

Spintronics , also known as magnetoelectronics, is an emerging technology that exploits both the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-state devices.An additional effect occurs when a spin-polarized current is...

, quantum computing and data storage media like hard drives.

Boron nitride nanotubes

Boron nitride nanotubes were theoretically predicted in 1994 and experimentally discovered in 1995. They can be imagined as a rolled up sheet of boron nitride. Structurally, it is a close analog of the carbon nanotube, namely a long cylinder with diameter of several to hundred nanometers and length of many micrometers, except carbon atoms are alternately substituted by nitrogen and boron atoms. However, the properties of BN nanotubes are very different: whereas carbon nanotubes can be metallic or semiconducting depending on the rolling direction and radius, a BN nanotube is an electrical insulator with a bandgap of ~5.5 eV, basically independent of tube chirality and morphology. In addition, a layered BN structure is much more thermally and chemically stable than a graphitic carbon structure.

All well-established techniques of carbon nanotube growth, such as arc-discharge, laser ablation and chemical vapor deposition, are used to synthesize BN nanotubes. BN nanotubes can also be produced by ball mill

Ball mill

A ball mill is a type of grinder used to grind materials into extremely fine powder for use in mineral dressing processes, paints, pyrotechnics, and ceramics.-Description:...

ing of amorphous boron, mixed with a catalyst: iron powder, under NH₃ atmosphere. Subsequent annealing at ~1100 °C in nitrogen flow transforms most of the product into BN.

Electrical and field emission properties of the thus prepared nanotubes can be tuned by doping with gold atoms via sputtering of gold on the nanotubes. Doping rare-earth atoms of europium

Europium

Europium is a chemical element with the symbol Eu and atomic number 63. It is named after the continent of Europe. It is a moderately hard silvery metal which readily oxidizes in air and water...

 turns a BN nanotube into a phosphor

Phosphor

A phosphor, most generally, is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence. Somewhat confusingly, this includes both phosphorescent materials, which show a slow decay in brightness , and fluorescent materials, where the emission decay takes place over tens of nanoseconds...

 material emitting visible light under electron excitation.

Like BN fibers, boron nitride nanotubes show promise for aerospace applications where integration of boron and in particular the light isotope of boron (¹⁰B) into structural materials improves their radiation-shielding properties; the improvement is due to strong neutron absorption by ¹⁰B. Such ¹⁰BN materials are of particular theoretical value as composite structural materials in future manned interplanetary spacecraft, where absorption-shielding from cosmic ray spallation

Spallation

In general, spallation is a process in which fragments of material are ejected from a body due to impact or stress. In the context of impact mechanics it describes ejection or vaporization of material from a target during impact by a projectile...

 neutrons is expected to be a particular asset in light construction materials.

Composites containing BN

Addition of boron nitride to silicon nitride

Silicon nitride

Silicon nitride is a chemical compound of silicon and nitrogen. If powdered silicon is heated between 1300° and 1400°C in an atmosphere of nitrogen, trisilicon tetranitride, Si3N4, is formed. The silicon sample weight increases progressively due to the chemical combination of silicon and nitrogen...

 ceramics improves the thermal shock

Thermal shock

Thermal shock is the name given to cracking as a result of rapid temperature change. Glass and ceramic objects are particularly vulnerable to this form of failure, due to their low toughness, low thermal conductivity, and high thermal expansion coefficients...

 resistance of the resulting material. For the same purpose, BN is added also to silicon nitride-alumina and titanium nitride

Titanium nitride

Titanium nitride is an extremely hard ceramic material, often used as a coating on titanium alloys, steel, carbide, and aluminium components to improve the substrate's surface properties....

-alumina ceramics. Other materials being reinforced with BN are, e.g., alumina and zirconia, borosilicate glass

Borosilicate glass

Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with the main glass-forming constituents silica and boron oxide. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficients of thermal expansion , making them resistant to thermal shock, more so than any other common glass...

es, glass ceramics, enamels

Vitreous enamel

Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

, and composite ceramics with titanium boride

Titanium boride

Titanium diboride is an extremely hard ceramic compound composed of titanium and boron which has excellent resistance to mechanical erosion...

-boron nitride and titanium boride-aluminium nitride

Aluminium nitride

Aluminium nitride is a nitride of aluminium. Its wurtzite phase is a wide band gap semiconductor material, giving it potential application for deep ultraviolet optoelectronics.-History:...

-boron nitride and silicon carbide

Silicon carbide

Silicon carbide , also known as carborundum, is a compound of silicon and carbon with chemical formula SiC. It occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite. Silicon carbide powder has been mass-produced since 1893 for use as an abrasive...

-boron nitride composition.

Health issues

Boron nitride (along with Si₃N₄, NbN, and BNC) is reported to show weak fibrogenic activity and cause pneumoconiosis

Pneumoconiosis

Pneumoconiosis is an occupational lung disease and a restrictive lung disease caused by the inhalation of dust, often in mines.-Types:Depending upon the type of dust, the disease is given different names:...

. The maximum concentration recommended for nitrides of nonmetals is 10 mg/m³ for BN and 4 for AlN or ZrN.

See also

• Beta carbon nitride
  Beta carbon nitride
  Beta carbon nitride is a material predicted to be harder than diamond.The material was first proposed in 1985 by Marvin Cohen and Amy Liu. Examining the nature of crystalline bonds they theorised that carbon and nitrogen atoms could form a particularly short and strong bond in a stable crystal...
  
  
• Boron suboxide
  Boron suboxide
  Boron suboxide is a solid compound of boron and oxygen.Its structure is built of eight icosahedra at the apexes of the rhombohedral unit cell . Each icosahedron is composed of twelve boron atoms. Two oxygen atoms are located in the interstices along the [111] rhombohedral direction...
  
  
• Superhard materials
  Superhard materials
  A superhard material is a material with a hardness value exceeding 40 GPa when measured by the Vickers hardness test. They are highly incompressible solids with high electron density and high bond covalency...
  
  
• Wide bandgap semiconductors
  Wide bandgap semiconductors
  Wide bandgap semiconductors are semiconductor materials with electronic band gaps larger than one or two electronvolts . The exact threshold of "wideness" often depends on the application, such as optoelectronic and power devices...
  
  

External links

• Synthesis and functionalization of BN nanotubes
• National Pollutant Inventory: Boron and Compounds
• Materials Safety Data Sheet at University of Oxford