Submicronic powders containing carbon, boron and nitrogen: their preparation by chemical vapour deposition and their characterization Original Research Article

Submicronic powders containing carbon, boron and nitrogen have been prepared by thermal chemical vapour deposition. The precursors of carbon, boron and nitrogen are acetylene, boron trichloride and ammonia, respectively. Hydrogen is the carrier gas. The conditions of preparation of these powders are rather different from those of thin films containing the same elements. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, both chemical analysis and microtexture are studied. It is shown that ex-acetylene carbon blacks with a concentric ‘onion-like’ texture, quasi stoichiometric boron nitrides with a platelet texture, boron–carbon solid solutions with a low boron content (3–19 at.%) and boron carbonitride powders with either carbon or boron and nitrogen excesses have been prepared.