Morphology and microstructure investigations of YB66 nano-particles prepared by plasma chemical process

摘要

Nanocrystalline particles of YB66 were prepared by plasma chemical process, using starting powders of YB4 and B, and the morphology was examined by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The average grain size of the YB66 particles is less than 100 nm. All the YB66 nano-particles are cubic in shape, suggesting that they have been formed through a direct coagulation from a vapor phase. Facetting at the cube corners occurs in most particles. The [0 0 1] and [0 1 1] lattice images of a cubic particle with edge-length of 84 nm were obtained. The simulated and experimental images match very well. A considerable amount of coarse, nearly spherical YB6 particles and unreached boron were additionally found by HRTEM. (C) 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers. [References: 11]