  There is a strong interest to attach nanoparticles non-covalently to
one-dimensional systems like boron nitride nanotubes to form composites. The
combination of those materials might be used for catalysis, in solar cells, or
for water splitting. Additionally, the fundamental aspect of charge transfer
between the components can be studied in such systems. We report on the
synthesis and characterization of nanocomposites based on semiconductor
nanoparticles attached directly and non-covalently to boron nitride nanotubes.
Boron nitride nanotubes were simply integrated into the colloidal synthesis of
the corresponding nanoparticles. With PbSe, CdSe, and ZnO nanoparticles a wide
range of semiconductor bandgaps from the near infrared to the ultra violet
range was covered. A high surface coverage of the boron nitride nanotubes with
these semiconducting nanoparticles was achieved, while it was found that a
similar in-situ approach with metallic nanoparticles does not lead to proper
attachment. In addition, possible models for the underlying attachment
mechanisms of all investigated nanoparticles are presented. To emphasize the
new possibilities that boron nitride nanotubes offer as a support material for
semiconductor nanoparticles we investigated the fluorescence of BN-CdSe
composites. In contrast to CdSe nanoparticles attached to carbon nanotubes,
where the fluorescence is quenched, particles attached to boron nitride
nanotubes remain fluorescent. With our versatile approaches we expand the
library of BN-nanoparticle composites that present an interesting,
electronically non-interacting complement to the widely applied carbon
nanotube-nanoparticle composite materials.
