Amorphous boron nanoparticles were prepared by arc-decomposing diborane, which had ideal morphologies in comparison with that of those fabricated by furnace or laser heating diborane. Peanut-shaped boron nitride encapsulating boron nanocapsules were fabricated by nitridation of amorphous boron nanoparticles. Unique core/void/shell structure of the nanocapsules was observed by using a high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The mechanism of growing the BN nanocapsules by a catalyst free process was distinctly different from the process of arc discharge or laser heating. The broadening of nonpolar intralayer Raman line of hexagonal BN at about 1370 cm(-1) was observed, which was attributed to the small crystal size of BN. (C) 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers.