High-surface area ceramic-derived boron-nitride and its hydrogen uptake properties

Abstract

A chlorine-assisted method for synthesizing porous boron nitride (BN) is developed. Large scale fabrication is possible by this method under moderate conditions. B and N sources, TiB₂ and TiN, respectively, are reacted under a chlorine atmosphere to yield a porous turbostratic BN that displayed a higher surface area (960 m² g⁻¹) and a larger micropore volume (0.38 cm³ g⁻¹) than have been reported by others. The products exhibit a high hydrogen uptake, as high as 1.01 wt% at 77 K and 1 bar. These results also indicate that the porous BN is a good candidate for testing as a catalyst support and gas sorption material.