Chemical Synthesis of Niobium Diboride Nanosheets by a Solid-State Reaction Route

A new process was developed to synthesize niobium diboride (NbB2) nanosheets with the dimension of about 500 nm and thickness of about 10 nm by using metal niobium, iodine and sodium borohydride as starting materials in an stainless steel autoclave at 700 degrees C. Iodine was used to facilitate the exothermic reaction between metal niobium and sodium borohydride and the formation of NbB2. X-ray powder diffraction pattern indicated that the obtained product is hexagonal phase NbB2 with the calculated lattice constants a = 110 angstrom and c = 3.2929 angstrom. The obtained product was also studied by thermogravimetric analysis. It had good oxidation resistance below 400 degrees C in air.