Iodine-Assisted Solid-State Synthesis and Characterization of Nanocrystalline Zirconium Diboride Nanosheets

A solid-state route was developed to prepare zirconium diboride nanosheets with the dimension of about 500 nm and thickness of about 20 nm from zirconium dioxide, iodine and sodium borohydride at 700°C in an autoclave reactor. The obtained ZrB2 product was investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscopy. The obtained product was also studied by thermogravimetric analysis. It had good thermal stability and oxidation resistance below 400°C in air. Furthermore, the possible formation mechanism of ZrB2 was also discussed.