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Breath Figure Patterns in the Oxidation of Boron Nitride
Author(s) -
Do Thanh Ba,
Halloran John W.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2008.02480.x
Subject(s) - boron oxide , boron nitride , oxide , boron , condensation , dew , chemical engineering , nitride , materials science , chemistry , inorganic chemistry , nanotechnology , metallurgy , layer (electronics) , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , physics , engineering
Liquids condensing on solids can form a pattern known as “breath figures.” Here we report similar patterns for liquid boron oxide droplets formed by high temperature oxidation reaction of boron nitride. Boron oxide does not wet boron nitride, so the liquid B 2 O 3 oxide forms small droplets. As oxidation proceeds at 1200°C, the oxide created by reaction on the surface migrates to existing droplets or forms new droplets. The average diameter and maximum diameter of the boron oxide droplets increase with time following the kinetics of breath figures, similar to water condensation breath figures for dew drops.