B-C-N nanotube with bamboo-like structure was synthesized by heating ball milled mixture of boron powder and graphite powder in flowing ammonia gas stream at 1200℃. The synthesized product was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD)
scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
electron diffraction (ED)
high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM)
and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS).The diameter of nanotube was in the range of 50—180 nm and the length is about 20μm.The result of EELS suggested that the nanotube was composed of elements of B
C and N
and the calculated B/C/N atomic ratio was 0.49∶1.00∶0.11.The growth mechanism of B-C-N nanotube was also discussed tentatively.