Synthesis of vertically aligned boron nitride nanotubes with a template of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Boron nitride nanotubes have been proposed of having great potential in various applications due to their outstanding properties such as high thermal conductivity and excellent chemical stability. Here, we present a template-assisted method of synthesizing vertically-aligned boron nitride nanotubes (VA-BNNTs) from vertically-aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (VA-SWCNTs). This approach involves a chemical vapor deposition of boron nitride layers coating onto VA-SWCNTs first and subsequent removal of VA-SWCNTs by the oxidation in pure oxygen. The obtained VA-SWCNTs covered by BNNTs and VA-BNNTs arrays retain a highly ordered vertically aligned structure. The thermal stability of VA-SWCNTs was enhanced by coating with BNNTs.The structure and crystalline conditions were characterized by scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope.The chemical composition of samples was investigated by UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Boron nitride coating starts onto VA-SWCNTs from the top of the VA-SWCNTs array, which is confirmed by NanoSIMS characterization.