Synthesis of Cubic Boron Nitride Nanoparticles from Boron Oxide, Melamine and NH3 by Non-Transferred Ar-N2 Thermal Plasma

Cubic boron nitride (c-BN) which is has extremely high hardness and thermal conductivity comparable to the diamond was synthesized in nanoparticle form by using non-transferred thermal plasma. The input power of arc plasma was fixed at 13.5 kW and the operating pressure was also fixed at atmospheric pressure. Boron oxide (B2O3) and melamine (C3H6N6) were used as raw materials for the sources of boron and nitrogen. Ammonia gas (NH3) was additionally injected to plasma jet as reactive gas providing additional nitrogen. Decomposed B2O3 and C3H6N6 enhance reactivity for synthesizing c-BN with exothermic reactions between carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Products were collected from the inner wall of reactor. In X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope measurements, the collected powder was confirmed as c-BN nanoparticles which have crystalline size smaller than 150 nm.