Simple growth of BCNO@C core shell fibres and luminescent BCNO tubes

Abstract

A novel core shell structure (BCNO@C with C core and BCNO shell) has been prepared using a simple heating reaction. These fibres have a diameter around 100–300 nm with lengths up to hundreds of micrometres. To create BCNO@C fibres, the C fibres (cores) were first grown using Ni particle catalysts before adding BCNO shells. Simple burning of the core shell fibres led to the formation of novel B₀.₄₃C_0.23N_0.27O_0.07 tubes. Unlike the BCN tubes grown from the substitution of C tubes, the BCNO tubes here have a homogenous structure with luminescence centered at around 386 nm (from 290–700 nm), which was mainly contributed to by the 1,3-B centers, carbene structures and BO₂⁻ species. The method used here is suitable to being adapted in the future to tune the electronic structure of BCN based materials.