Single-crystal Al(18)B(4)O(33) microtubes.
Aluminum borate microtubes were prepared in excellent yield by annealing the Al(2)O(3)-NaBH(4)-NiCl(2) starting materials at 1050 degrees C under N(2)(H(2)) atmosphere. The tubes are usually open at each end with the outer diameters narrowly distributed at ca. 1 microm. XRD results and TEM analysis identified the composition of these tubes as single-crystal orthorhombic Al(18)B(4)O(33). These newly discovered ceramic microtubes with open ends have a variety of promising applications such as being filled with other materials for protection or for the fabrication of novel composites or filtering media.
Ma
Renzhi
R
Advanced Materials Laboratory, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan. MA.Renzhi@nims.go.jp
Bando
Yoshio
Y
Sato
Tadao
T
Tang
Chengchun
C
Xu
Fangfang
F