Determination of Phase Stability of Elemental Boron

Boron is an important element, used in applications from superhard materials to superconductors. Boron exists in several forms (allotropes) and, surprisingly, it was not known which form (α or β) is stable at ambient conditions. Through experiment, we quantify the relative stability of α‐boron and β‐boron as a function of temperature. The ground‐state energies of α‐boron and β‐boron are nearly identical. For all temperatures up to 2000 K, the complicated β‐boron structure is more stable than the simpler α‐boron structure at ambient pressure. Below 1000 K, β‐boron is entropically stabilized with respect to α‐boron owing to its partially occupied sites, whereas at higher temperatures β‐boron is enthalpically stabilized with respect to α‐boron. We show that α‐boron only becomes stable on application of pressure.     

Analysis of why boron avoids sp2 hybridization and classical structures in the BnHn+2 series

We performed global minimum searches for the B(n) H(n+2) (n=2-5) series and found that classical structures composed of 2c-2e B-H and B-B bonds become progressively less stable along the series. Relative energies increase from 2.9?kcal?mol(-1) in B(2) H(4) to 62.3?kcal?mol(-1) in B(5) H(7). We believe this occurs because boron atoms in the studied molecules are trying to avoid sp(2) hybridization and trigonal structure at the boron atoms, as in that case one 2p-AO is empty, which is highly unfavorable. This affinity of boron to have some electron density on all 2p-AOs and avoiding having one 2p-AO empty is a main reason why classical structures are not the most stable configurations and why multicenter bonding is so important for the studied boron-hydride clusters as well as for pure boron clusters and boron compounds in general.     

Boron complexes of porphyrins and related polypyrrole ligands: unexpected chemistry for both boron and the porphyrin

The coordination of boron to a range of polypyrrole-containing ligands is explored in this feature article. The boron dipyrromethenes are well-known as laser dyes and fluorescent labels in biology. Subphthalocyanine and subporphyrin macrocycles containing only three pyrrole rings can exist only when templated by a central boron atom. Boron complexes of expanded porphyrins (six or eight pyrroles) can complex boron in dipyrromethene (but not bipyrrole) sites. The primary focus of the article is on boron porphyrin and corrole complexes, where the tight fit of two boron atoms within the very constrained coordination site gives rise to unexpected chemistry at both boron and the porphyrin ligand. These unusual features are described and reasons for their occurrence postulated.     

Extraction-spectrophotometric determination of boron and antimony in carbon and low-alloy steels with mandelic acid and malachite green

A very simple and sensitive extraction method using mandelic acid and Malachite Green has been applied to the determination of boron and antimony in steels (carbon and low-alloy). When chlorobenzene is used as the solvent, boron and antimony are simultaneously extracted as ion-pairs of their mandelates with Malachite Green from weak acidic media, but only the boron compound is extracted in the presence of tartrate. Antimony is determined from the difference in absorbance of the extracts. In the case of benzene, boron alone was extracted and determined. Large amounts of iron(II) and other metal cations do not interfere, so the steel samples are dissolved in dilute sulphuric acid. Very low boron (0.0009-0.0091%) and antimony (0.002-0.02%) contents in steel are easily determined without any pretreatment.     

Borides and vitreous compounds sintered as high-energy fuels

Boron was chosen as fuel in view of its excellent thermodynamic values for combustion, as compared to traditional fuels. The problem of the boron in combustion is the formation of a surface layer of oxide, which delays the ignition process, reducing the performance of the rocket engine. This paper presents a high-energy fuel for rocket engines. It is composed of sintered boron (borides and carbides and vitreous compounds) with a reducing chemical agent. Borides and boron carbide were prepared since the combustion heat of the latter is similar to that of the amorphous boron (in: K.K. Kuo (Ed.), Boron-Based Solid Propellant and Solid Fuel, Vol. 427, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1993). Several chemical reducing elements were used, such as aluminum, magnesium, and coke. As the raw material for boron, different compounds were used: amorphous boron, boric acid and boron oxide.     

Root-growth mechanism for single-walled boron nitride nanotubes in laser vaporization technique

We present a detailed study of the growth mechanism of single-walled boron nitride nanotubes synthesized by laser vaporization, which is the unique route known to the synthesis of this kind of tube in high quantities. We have performed a nanometric chemical and structural characterization by transmission electron microscopy (high-resolution mode (HRTEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy) of the synthesis products. Different boron-based compounds and other impurities were identified in the raw synthesis products. The results obtained by the TEM analysis and from the synthesis parameters (temperature, boron, and nitrogen sources) combined with phase diagram analysis to provide identification of the fundamental factors determining the nanotube growth mechanism. Our experiments strongly support a root-growth model that involves the presence of a droplet of boron. This phenomenological model considers the solubility, solidification, and segregation phenomena of the elements present in this boron droplet. In this model, we distinguish three different steps as a function of the temperature: (1) formation of the liquid boron droplet from the decomposition of different boron compounds existing in the hexagonal boron nitride target, (2) reaction of these boron droplets with nitrogen gas present in the vaporization chamber and recombination of these elements to form boron nitride, and (3) incorporation of the nitrogen atoms at the root of the boron particle at active reacting sites that achieves the growth of the tube.     

Separate vaporisation of boric acid and inorganic boron from tungsten sample cuvette-tungsten boat furnace followed by the detection of boron species by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-MS and ICP-AES)

Utilising extremely different vaporisation properties of boron compounds, the determination procedures of volatile boric acid and total boron using tungsten boat furnace (TBF) ICP-MS and TBF-ICP-AES have been investigated. For the determination of volatile boric acid by TBF-ICP-MS, tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH, Me₄NOH) was used as a chemical modifier to retain it during drying and ashing stages. As for the total boron, not only non-volatile inorganic boron such as boron nitride (BN), boron carbide (B₄C), etc. but also boric acid (B(OH)₃) was decomposed by a furnace-fusion digestion with NaOH to produce sodium salt of boron, a suitable species for the electrothermal vaporisation (ETV) procedure. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of various standard reference materials. The analytical results for various biological and steel samples are described.     

Determination of boron in high-purity tantalum materials by on-line matrix separation/inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A method for the determination of ultratrace amounts of boron in high-purity tantalum materials [tantalum metal, tantalum(v) oxide, tantalum pentachloride and tantalum pentaethoxide] is described. On-line anion-exchange matrix separation combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was employed for the determination of boron at the ng g(-1) level. Tantalum materials were dissolved using HF and/or HNO3 prior to analysis. The loss of boron in the sample preparation procedure was examined as the recovery of boron by adding a definite amount of boron to each tantalum material sample before decomposition, and it was almost negligible. In an anion-exchange method using 0.1 M HF carrier solution, tantalum and boron in the sample solution were first adsorbed on a strongly basic anion-exchange resin. Next, boron was eluted from the resin with 5 M HCl, whereas tantalum was retained strongly adsorbed. The eluted boron was introduced directly into the ICP-MS system for quantitative analysis at m/z 10 and 11. Because of the long elution time of boron, the transient signal was integrated in the time range 70-300 s on the chromatogram. Although the elution of boron in the time range was ca. 40% of total boron in the sample solution injected, the determination limits (10sigma) obtained by the present method were 30, 25, 15 and 13 ng g(-1) for tantalum metal, tantalum(v) oxide, tantalum pentachloride and tantalum pentaethoxide, respectively. The method was applied to the determination of boron in commercially available high-purity tantalum materials and it was found that the concentrations of boron were in the ng g(-1)-microg g(-1) range.     

Predicting two-dimensional boron-carbon compounds by the global optimization method

We adopt a global optimization method to predict two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures through the particle-swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. By performing PSO simulations, we predict new stable structures of 2D boron-carbon (B-C) compounds for a wide range of boron concentrations. Our calculations show that: (1) All 2D B-C compounds are metallic except for BC(3) which is a magic case where the isolation of carbon six-membered ring by boron atoms results in a semi-conducting behavior. (2) For C-rich B-C compounds, the most stable 2D structures can be viewed as boron doped graphene structures, where boron atoms typically form 1D zigzag chains except for BC(3) in which boron atoms are uniformly distributed. (3) The most stable 2D structure of BC has alternative carbon and boron ribbons with strong in-between B-C bonds, which possesses a high thermal stability above 2000 K. (4) For B-rich 2D B-C compounds, there is a novel planar-tetracoordinate carbon motif with an approximate C(2)(v) symmetry.     

Synthesis of Atomically Thin Boron Films on Copper Foils

Two‐dimensional boron materials have recently attracted extensive theoretical interest because of their exceptional structural complexity and remarkable physical and chemical properties. However, such 2D boron monolayers have still not been synthesized. In this report, the synthesis of atomically thin 2D γ‐boron films on copper foils is achieved by chemical vapor deposition using a mixture of pure boron and boron oxide powders as the boron source and hydrogen gas as the carrier gas. Strikingly, the optical band gap of the boron film was measured to be around 2.25 eV, which is close to the value (2.07 eV) determined by first‐principles calculations, suggesting that the γ‐B₂₈ monolayer is a fascinating direct band gap semiconductor. Furthermore, a strong photoluminescence emission band was observed at approximately 626 nm, which is again due to the direct band gap. This study could pave the way for applications of two‐dimensional boron materials in electronic and photonic devices.     

硼烯化学合成进展与展望

硼烯是由硼原子构成的单原子层厚的二维材料,具有丰富的化学和物理性质。本文集中介绍近年来硼烯在合成方面的理论与实验研究进展,重点分析基底、生长温度、生长前驱物等因素对硼成核选择性的影响,探讨能够促进硼烯成核的潜在方法。进一步将分析硼烯生长机制及理论研究方法,以此展望通过在基底上化学气相沉积合成硼烯的可能途径。本文旨在促进大面积、高质量硼烯样品的制备以推动硼烯的实际应用。     

Extraction-spectrophotometric determination of boron with 4,6-Di-tert-butyl-3-methoxycatechol and ethyl violet

4,6-Di-tert-butyl-3-methoxycatechol (DBMC) has been developed as a new reagent for boron, the complex anion formed being extracted as an ion-associate with Ethyl Violet into toluene, and the absorbance measured at 610 nm. The calibration graph is linear up to 0.43 mug of boron, the molar absorptivity is 1.02 x 10(5) 1.mole(-1).cm(-1) and the relative standard deviation 1.2%. The method has been applied to the determination of boron in sea-water and river water with satisfactory results.     

Hydrogen adsorption on carbon-doped boron nitride nanotube

The adsorption of atomic and molecular hydrogen on carbon-doped boron nitride nanotubes is investigated within the ab initio density functional theory. The binding energy of adsorbed hydrogen on carbon-doped boron nitride nanotube is substantially increased when compared with hydrogen on nondoped nanotube. These results are in agreement with experimental results for boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) where dangling bonds are present. The atomic hydrogen makes a chemical covalent bond with carbon substitution, while a physisorption occurs for the molecular hydrogen. For the H(2) molecule adsorbed on the top of a carbon atom in a boron site (BNNT + C(B)-H(2)), a donor defect level is present, while for the H(2) molecule adsorbed on the top of a carbon atom in a nitrogen site (BNNT + C(N)-H(2)), an acceptor defect level is present. The binding energies of H(2) molecules absorbed on carbon-doped boron nitride nanotubes are in the optimal range to work as a hydrogen storage medium.     

Thermal reaction characteristics of the boron used in the fuel-rich propellant

High pressure DSC and simultaneous TG/DSC were used to study the different kinds of boron that was used in the fuel-rich propellant and the amorphous boron in different gases and different pressure. Also, some of the samples before the experiment and after the experiment were analyzed by the SEM. The results show that: (1) there is a big exothermic peak between 550 °C and 850 °C for all the samples because the combustion heat of boron is very high, and the exothermic peak appears in advance when the pressure or the oxygen concentration increases. (2) Although the reaction process of all the samples with air or oxygen could be divided into five stages, the reaction characteristics are different from each other. Especially, amorphous boron is much more active than the boron used in the fuel-rich propellant. (3) The exothermic peak at about 700 °C appears in advance, and the percentage conversion of boron decreases when the content of magnesium increases and boron–magnesium compound is used as the raw materials. (4) Some samples start to lose their mass for the sake of the evaporation of the (BO)_n.     

锆硼陶瓷材料中总硼分析方法研究

对锆硼陶瓷材料中总硼的分析方法进行了研究，采用硫酸和硫酸铵及重铬酸钾氧化两步溶解法分解样品，氮气载带硼酸三甲酯蒸馏分离硼与锆（氦气流速150mL/min水溶加热，NaOH溶液吸收），材料中成分为Zr粉＋B4C粉，Zr含量≥99％（ut），经阳离子交换法除去吸收液中Na后采用ICP-AES法测定硼。方法的相对标准偏差（n=6）小于2．0％；标准加入回收率为99％。     

Boron(III) Carbazosubphthalocyanines: Core‐Expanded Antiaromatic Boron(III) Subphthalocyanine Analogues

Condensation of 1,8‐diamino‐3,6‐dichlorocarbazole with a series of disubstituted 1,3‐diiminoisoindolines, followed by treatment with BF₃?OEt₂ led to the formation of the corresponding core‐expanded boron(III) subphthalocyanine analogues. These air‐stable π‐conjugated boron(III) carbazosubphthalocyanines possess two boron‐containing seven‐membered‐ring units and a 16 π‐electron skeleton, and represent the first examples of antiaromatic boron(III) subphthalocyanine analogues as supported by spectroscopic and theoretical studies. The molecular structure of one of these compounds was unambiguously determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis. In contrast to typical boron(III) subphthalocyanines, which adopt a cone‐shaped structure, the π skeleton of this compound is almost planar.     

电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定硼同位素丰度

以硼同位素标准物质NIST SRM 951配制标准溶液,在优化的仪器操作条件下对电感耦合等离子体质谱(ICP-MS)测定的硼同位素质量进行校正,求出校正因子,确定了样品的线性浓度范围,选定样品浓度为1.1 mg/L。在同样的仪器条件下首先测定了硼标准物质的硼同位素丰度比,测量误差为0.2%,然后测定了硼同位素浓缩过程中硼样品的硼同位素丰度比,测定结果的相对标准偏差为1.1%。此外考察了仪器的稳定性。实验结果表明本方法“记忆效应”小,结果可靠,测量精度高。     

Boron adsorption mechanism on polyvinyl alcohol

Recently, an increase in the use of boron compounds has led to an increase in boron emissions, and concern has grown regarding its detrimental effects on the human body. An adsorbent that adsorbs boron selectively has been developed as a countermeasure. Although certain commercially available boron selective adsorbents can be used to remove boron from aqueous solutions by utilizing the strong affinity between boron and hydroxyl groups, the adsorption capacity appears to be insufficient. So, we adopted polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which contains many hydroxyl groups, as a model adsorbent. We investigated the boron adsorption characteristics of PVA, and then studied the relationship between the number of adsorption sites and actual adsorption amounts. We assessed the adsorption result by using adsorption site availability (ASA) as an indicator of the ratio of effectively functioning hydroxyl groups from the many hydroxyl groups in PVA. ASA was expressed as a percentage of the experimental equilibrium adsorbed amount in relation to the theoretical equilibrium adsorbed amount. We also compared the adsorption isotherms and ASA obtained with PVA, commercially available N-methylglucamine-type resin (CRB03 and CRB05) and the adsorbent we synthesized from polyallylamine (PAA) and glucose (PAA-Glu). Although PVA has many hydroxyl groups in a molecule, ASA analysis revealed that only 6% of the hydroxyl groups in PVA was used for boron adsorption. On the other hand, CRBs and PAA-Glu exhibited higher ASA values (about 15% and 35% respectively) and adsorption amounts, suggesting that the sterically congested adsorbent structure had a great influence on boron adsorption and ASA.     

Ion Exchange Extraction of Boron from Aqueous Fluids by Amberlite IRA 743 Resin

The ion exchange characteristics d Amherlite IRA 743 resin for extracting boron from aqueous fluids have been investigated in detail. The results show that AmherHte IRA 743 resin, a boron specific ion exchange resin, can quantitatively extract boron as the B (OH)4- spedes from weakly basle solution. Some exchangeable anions such as CI- and SO4^2- are present, resulting in an increase in pH value of the loeded solution within the nan, and the boron in natural aqueous fluids with low nH is also extracted by Amberlite IRA 743 resin. However, the voiume of loaded solution must be restricted. The maximum voiume of loaded solution giving quantitative extraction of boron decreases for sample soh.,tiom of lower pH value. Warm HCI solution is more effective than room temperature HCI solution for eluting boron from Amberllte IRA 743 resin.     

11B solid-state NMR investigation of the rhamnogalacturonan II-borate complex in plant cell walls.

The boron in plant cell walls, which is water-insoluble and in the solid state, is solubilized by pectinase digestion to give a dimeric rhamnogalacturonan II-borate (dRG-II-B) complex. To clarify the nondestructive structure of boron present in plant cell walls (as represented by sugar beet fiber), we performed 192- and 96-MHz 11B solid state NMR measurements. The use of a high field magnet frequency of 192-MHz enabled us to observe 11B isotropic chemical shifts at -9.7 and -9.6 ppm for dRG-II-B and sugar beet fiber in the solid state, respectively, demonstrating that the boron in isolated dRG-II-B and in plant cell walls is present as a borate-diol ester (1:2). The observation of the magnetic field dependence of the chemical shift and lineshape for the borate-diol ester (1:2) by quadrupolar interaction suggested that the borate complex had a distorted tetrahedral boron structure.