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This disclosure provides methods and materials related to boron nitride aerogels. In one aspect, a material comprises an aerogel comprising boron nitride. The boron nitride has an ordered crystalline structure. The ordered crystalline structure may include atomic layers of hexagonal boron nitride lying on top of one another, with atoms contained in a first layer being superimposed on atoms contained in a second layer.
A method is disclosed of measuring the thickness of a thin coating on a substrate comprising dissolving the coating and substrate in a reagent and using the post-dissolution concentration of the coating in the reagent to calculate an effective thickness of the coating. The preferred method includes measuring non-conducting films on flexible and rough substrates, but other kinds of thin films can be measure by matching a reliable film-substrate dissolution technique. One preferred method includes determining the thickness of Boron Carbide films deposited on copper foil. The preferred method uses a standard technique known as inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICPOES) to measure boron concentration in a liquid sample prepared by dissolving boron carbide films and the Copper substrates, preferably using a chemical etch known as ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN). Measured boron concentration values can then be calculated.
A method for produce a boron containing film by admitting a gaseous boron precursor into a vacuum chamber containing a substrate and directing an electron beam or ion beam into the vacuum chamber onto to the surface of the substrate. The electron beam or ion beam dissociates the gaseous boron precursor at the surface of the substrate creating non-volatile fragments that bind to the substrate surface forming a boron containing film.
A bulk high performance permanent magnet comprising a neodymium-iron-boron core having an outer surface, and a coercivity-enhancing element residing on at least a portion of said outer surface, with an interior portion of said neodymium-iron-boron core not having said coercivity-enhancing element therein. Also described herein is a method for producing the high-coercivity bulk permanent magnet, the method comprising: (i) depositing a coercivity-enhancing element on at least a portion of an outer surface of a neodymium-iron-boron core substrate to form a coated permanent magnet; and (ii) subjecting the coated permanent magnet to a pulse thermal process that heats said outer surface to a substantially higher temperature than an interior portion of said neodymium-iron-boron core substrate, wherein said substantially higher temperature is at least 200° C. higher than said interior portion and is of sufficient magnitude to induce diffusion of said coercivity-enhancing element below said outer surface but outside of said interior portion.
Improved cementation of low and intermediate level radioactive waste (ILW and LLW) aided by vortex electromagnetic treatment as well as silica addition was investigated. Positive effects including accelerated curing of boron-containing cement waste forms, improve end product quality, decreased product volume and reduced secondary LRW volume from equipment decontamination were established. These results established the possibility of boron-containing LRW cementation without the use of neutralizing alkaline additives that greatly increase the volume of the final product intended for long-term storage (burial). Physical (electromagnetic) treatment in a vortex mixer can change the state of LRW versus chemical treatment. By treating the liquid phase of cement solution only, instead of the whole solution, and using fine powder and nano-particles of ferric oxides instead of separable ferromagnetic cores for the activating agents the positive effect are obtained. VET for 1 to 3 minutes yields boron-containing LRW cemented products of satisfactory quality. Silica addition at 10 % by weight will accelerate curing and solidification and to decrease radionuclide leaching rates from boron-containing cement products. (authors)
Recent research has explored the development of boron-based neutron scintillator screens, which potentially offer improved spatial resolution and neutron capture efficiency compared to traditional lithium-based screens. This work builds upon previous efforts to improve boron-based neutron scintillators by assessing a newer generation of boron-based scintillator screens fabricated using different compositions and fabrication approaches compared to previous generations of screens. Some of the test screens exhibit higher light output than previous efforts and higher neutron capture efficiency than lithium-based screens. This paper describes the current state of screen development, measurement results for the most recent generation of screens, and future activities.
The investigations on estimating the attenuation of capture gamma radiation by a composite neutron-shielding material based on modified titanium hydride and Portland cement with a varied amount of boron carbide are performed. The results of calculations demonstrate that an introduction of boron into this material enables significantly decreasing the thermal neutron flux density and hence the levels of capture gamma radiation. In particular, after introducing 1- 5 wt.% boron carbide into the material, the thermal neutron flux density on a 10 cm-thick layer is reduced by 11 to 176 factors, and the capture gamma dose rate – from 4 to 9 times, respectively. The difference in the degree of reduction in these functionals is attributed to the presence of capture gamma radiation in the epithermal region of the neutron spectrum.
Grain boundaries (GBs) in nickel-based superalloys have a significant influence on the creep resistance of these alloys. In this study, the trace elements of boron and zirconium were added to the newly designed LESS 1 (Ni-22Cr-20Co-2W-2Nb-1.5Al-1.5Ti-0.03C) alloy, and their effects on the GB precipitation behaviors of carbides were observed. The combined addition of boron and zirconium generates a continuous film structure containing MC carbides and M{sub 23}(C, B){sub 6}-type boro-carbides, as well as a grain boundary γ′. Based on the change in microstructure, rupture time is significantly increased. According to the observed microstructures and simulation results, it was confirmed that boron forms M{sub 23}(C, B){sub 6}-type boro-carbides and zirconium appears to stabilize MC carbides at GBs.
The high pressure properties of icosahedral boron arsenide (B12As2) were studied by in situ X-ray diffraction measurements at pressures up to 25.5 GPa at room temperature. B12As2 retains its rhombohedral structure; no phase transition was observed in the pressure range. The bulk modulus was determined to be 216 GPa with the pressure derivative 2.2. Anisotropy was observed in the compressibility of B12As2-c-axis was 16.2% more compressible than a-axis. The boron icosahedron plays a dominant role in the compressibility of boron-rich compounds.
Boron nitride (BN) allotropes hold great promise in many advanced applications ranging from optical and photonic devices to energy storage and battery systems to tribological components. The diverse functionalities of this material stem from BN’s highly tunable structural and electronic properties, which are governed by the versatile boron–nitrogen bonding configurations. Exploring the structural landscape of BN can unveil novel structures possessing unique properties suited for specific applications, therefore accelerating the design of next-generation advanced functional materials. In this work, we leverage boron K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) as an effective probe for local structural features and chemical environments. A total of 210 BN crystal structures are generated via analogies to the extensive array of carbon allotropes, and XAS is simulated for each unique local motif within the resulting collection of structures. A mapping between structural features and spectral signatures was established by synergizing first-principle simulations with data-driven based post-analysis approaches. Specifically, we developed a neural network model that can satisfactorily predict spectra line shapes from local structural descriptors. Toward automatic spectroscopic interpretation of any new BN structures, supervised machine learning models, trained on this structure–spectrum dataset, can accurately infer local coordination environments from simulated XAS, highlighting the strength of this unique approach of combining high-fidelity first-principles simulation and machine-learning to accelerate target design of novel BN materials via rational understanding of local structure-spectrum correlations.
Single-photon emitters (SPEs) in the near-infrared (NIR) range with sharp and intense zero-phonon lines (ZPLs) of emission are critical for quantum communications. Certain local defects in wide-bandgap semiconductors create isolated occupied and unoccupied states within the bandgap of the host semiconductor and thus exhibit sharp ZPLs of emission. We designed and studied a defect in the wurtzite boron nitride as a potential SPE. It consists of a boron vacancy and a carbon atom substituting another boron atom (V B C B defect). The density of states is obtained within the GW method to identify favorable local defect states that may dominate optical transitions. The dielectric function and oscillator strength of the V B C B defect are obtained using the Bethe-Salpeter equation method to identify the optical excitations of the V B C B defect, from which we conclude that the defect could be a source of NIR emission with a narrow bright ZPL peak, thus an efficient SPE.
Boron monoxide (BO), prepared by the thermal condensation of tetrahydroxydiboron, was first reported in 1955; however, its structure could not be determined. With the recent attention on boron-based two-dimensional materials, such as borophene and hexagonal boron nitride, there is renewed interest in BO. A large number of stable BO structures have been computationally identified, but none are supported by experiments. The consensus is that the material likely forms a boroxine-based two-dimensional material. Herein, we apply advanced 11 B NMR experiments to determine the relative orientations of B(B)O 2 centers in BO. We find that the material is composed of D 2h -symmetric O 2 B–BO 2 units that organize to form larger B 4 O 2 rings. Further, powder diffraction experiments additionally reveal that these units organize to form two-dimensional layers with a random stacking pattern. This observation is in agreement with earlier density functional theory (DFT) studies that showed B 4 O 2 -based structures to be the most stable.
We report the hard x-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (HAXPES) and near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) of CoFeB|MgO|CoFeB interfaces as a function of annealing time. Upon annealing, the oxidation state of B changes from predominantly elemental (0 valence) boron in the as deposited sample to higher oxidation in annealed samples as evident from HAXPES spectra. The NEXAFS spectroscopy results showed that upon heating, B species migrate towards the MgO and interact with it. A comparison of the tunnel junction NEXAFS signature with some standards suggests that the B forms a 3-fold coordinated boron compound in the MgO environment and 4-fold coordinated boron resembling Kotoite mineral in the CoFe/MgO interface.
Boron-carbon-nitrogen films were grown by RF reactive sputtering from a B{sub 4}C target and N{sub 2} as reactive gas. The films present phase segregation and are mechanically softer than boron carbide films (a factor of more than 2 in Young's modulus). This fact can turn out as an advantage in order to select buffer layers to better anchor boron carbide films on substrates eliminating thermally induced mechanical tensions.
Boron addition to Ni{sub 53.5}Mn{sub 26.0}Ga{sub 20.5} alloy is found to modify the microstructure and mechanical properties substantially. Studies on (Ni{sub 53.5}Mn{sub 26.0}Ga{sub 20.5})B{sub x} alloys reveal that boron addition causes grain refinement which led to an increase in compressive strength in x=0.5 alloy which also retained multimode twinning. Substantial second phase segregation rich in Ni was seen at grain boundaries, the extent of which increased with boron content. This led to a compositional shift in the matrix phase which resulted in a reduction in the martensitic transformation temperature and which in turn caused an easy deformation at low stresses and suppression of multimode twinning in x=1.0 alloy.
The carbon-rich boron-carbide (B{sub 11}C)C-C has been designed from first principles within the density functional theory. With respect to the most common boron carbide at 20% carbon concentration B{sub 4}C, the structural modification consists in removing boron atoms from the chains linking (B{sub 11}C) icosahedra. With C-C instead of C-B-C chains, the formation of vacancies is shown to be hindered, leading to enhanced mechanical strength with respect to B{sub 4}C. The phonon frequencies and elastic constants turn out to prove the stability of the carbon-rich phase, and important fingerprints for its characterization have been identified.
We report on advanced insights into the fluxing of Pd–Si–Cu bulk metallic glasses. Flux-induced boron alloying and trapping of oxides are found to be associated with the employed boron oxide fluxing agent, and both influence the attainable glass-forming ability (GFA) in opposite ways. Incorporated boron strongly deteriorates the GFA due to a rising liquidus temperature, while the oxygen reduction improves it. Thus, proper fine-tuning of the fluxing time and overheating characteristics leads to an enhancement of GFA. In the current case, the critical diameter of Pd{sub 77.5}Si{sub 16.5}Cu{sub 6} bulk metallic glasses can be increased to 15 mm, as compared to 3 mm in the unfluxed case. Based on these results, we illustrate that the development of further fluxing agents is crucial for enhancement of the key properties of bulk metallic glasses.
The impact of 30MeV boron{sup 4+} and 60MeV oxygen{sup 8+} ion irradiation on electrical characteristics of 2N3773 Si NPN Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) is reported in the present study. The transistors were decapped and irradiated at room temperature. Gummel characteristics, DC current gain and Capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics were studied before and after irradiation at different fluences. DC current gain has decreased significantly in both boron and oxygen ion irradiation. Also the value of capacitance decreased 3-4 times with increase in fluence. Both 30MeV boron ion and 60MeV oxygen ion induced similar extent of degradation in electrical characteristics of the transistor.