Boron nitride converted carbon fiber

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9305677-B2
Application number	US-201414148508-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 6, 2014
Priority date	Jan 11, 2013
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus related to boron nitride converted carbon fiber. In one aspect, a method may include the operations of providing boron oxide and carbon fiber, heating the boron oxide to melt the boron oxide and heating the carbon fiber, mixing a nitrogen-containing gas with boron oxide vapor from molten boron oxide, and converting at least a portion of the carbon fiber to boron nitride.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
(a) providing boron oxide and carbon fiber, the carbon fiber having a circular cross-section;
(b) heating the boron oxide to melt the boron oxide and heating the carbon fiber;
(c) mixing a nitrogen-containing gas with boron oxide vapor from molten boron oxide; and
(d) converting a portion of the carbon fiber proximate a perimeter of the circular cross-section of the carbon fiber to boron nitride, the boron nitride having a thickness of about 10 nanometers to 1.5 microns.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the boron oxide and the carbon fiber are heated to about 1000° C. to 2000° C.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the boron oxide and the carbon fiber are heated to about 1500° C. to 2000° C.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbon fiber is heated to a higher temperature than the boron oxide.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein operations (b), (c), and (d) occur over a time period of about 30 minutes to 120 minutes.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nitrogen-containing gas includes nitrogen.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nitrogen-containing gas includes nitrogen, and wherein a ratio of a partial pressure of boron oxide to a partial pressure of nitrogen is about 1 to 2 during operation (d).

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a pressure is about 1 bar during operation (d).

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbon fiber is in a form comprising a woven cloth including the carbon fiber.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the boron oxide and the carbon fiber are separated from one another during operations (b), (c), and (d).

11. A structure
comprising: a carbon fiber core; and
a boron nitride layer surrounding the carbon fiber core, the boron nitride layer having the same surface morphology as the carbon fiber core, the boron nitride layer having a thickness of about 10 nanometers to 1.5 microns.

12. The structure of claim 11 , wherein the boron nitride layer is not coated onto the carbon fiber core.

13. The structure of claim 11 , wherein the carbon fiber core has a diameter of about 5 microns to 20 microns.

14. The structure of claim 11 , wherein the boron nitride layer has a uniform thickness.

15. The structure of claim 11 , wherein the structure has a color selected from a group consisting of red, green, blue, and variations thereof.

16. The structure of claim 11 , wherein the structure has a color other than black.

17. A
structure comprising: a
carbon fiber core; and
a boron nitride layer surrounding the carbon fiber core, the structure having a color selected from a group consisting of red, green, blue, and variations thereof, the color being determined by a thickness of the boron nitride layer.

18. The structure of claim 17 , wherein the boron nitride layer causes constructive interference of visible light between an outer surface of the boron nitride layer and a surface the carbon fiber core.

19. The structure of claim 17 , wherein the boron nitride layer has a thickness of about 10 nanometers to 1.5 microns.

20. The structure of claim 17 , wherein the carbon fiber core has a diameter of about 5 microns to 20 microns.

Assignees

• Univ California

Inventors

• Rousseas Michael
• Mickelson William
• Zettl Alexander K

Classifications

• D01F11/124

  Boron, borides, boron nitrides · CPC title

• H01B1/04 Primary

  mainly consisting of carbon-silicon compounds, carbon or silicon · CPC title

• D01F8/18

  from other substances · CPC title