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We have investigated a thermally induced combustion route for preparing 2D hexagonal BN nanoplates from B 2 O 3 +(3+0.5 k )Mg+ k NH 4 Cl solid system, for k =1–4 interval. Temperature–time profiles recorded by thermocouples indicated the existence of two sequential exothermic processes in the combustion wave leading to the BN nanoplates formation. The resulting BN nanoplates were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy, PL spectrometry, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis. It was found that B 2 O 3 was converted into BN completely (by XRD) at 1450–1930 °C within tens of seconds in a single-step synthesis process. The BN prepared at a k =1–4 interval comprised well-shaped nanoplates with an average edge length ranging from 50 nm to several micrometer and thickness from 5 to 100 nm. The specific surface area of BN nanoplates was 13.7 g/m 2 for k =2 and 28.4 m 2 /g for k =4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]