Growth of single crystalline boron nanotubes in a Cu alloy

Abstract

Herein, we report the successful synthesis of single crystalline boron nanotubes in a Cu alloy via a novel and simple direct melt reaction process. The boron nanotubes are perfect single crystals with a β-rhombohedral structure, whose size can be controlled and changed. The combined experimental and dynamic simulation results lead to the conclusion that the boron nanotubes in the Cu alloy can be considered as a crystal skeleton, closely related to the liquid structure and solidification characteristics of the Cu–B alloy, which is significantly affected by the cooling rate and boron concentration. In addition, the stable morphology of the boron nanotubes, which minimizes the energy content, is not a round tube but a parallelogram. Thus, boron tubes with large size range scale can be prepared in Cu alloys.