Fabrication of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Nanosheets by Using a Simple Thermal Exfoliation Process

Abstract

A simple and inexpensive method to exfoliate boron nitride powder to form boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) with few layers was achieved by using a physically thermal process. The obtained BNNSs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), IR spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The size distribution of the sheets and average sheet size is in the range of 80-380 nm and 200 ± 62 nm, respectively, and the pure phase h-BN products were confirmed. XPS result showed the B/N atomic ratio to be 0.99. In addition, the BNNSs can well disperse in aqueous solution to form a cloudy suspension and importantly, can remain suspended for 1 month without precipitate, which would have good potential in a wide range of applications.

Methods of hexagonal boron nitride exfoliation and its functionalization: covalent and non-covalent approaches

“…Finally, the subsequent suspension was kept for conducting other measurements, like structural and morphological investigations, or it was dried to acquire clean BNNSs. 125 …”

Recent Progress in Two‐Dimensional Antimicrobial Nanomaterials

“…[113] Methods for preparing BN NSs have been established, for instance, CVD, chemical exfoliation, and thermale xfoliation. [112,114] Owing to the sp 2 -hybridization nature of carbon,the edges of h-BNa re endowed with high chemicalactivity and reduced binding energy.T hus, h-BN is an excellent building scaffold for variousf unctional materials. [112,115] Investigations into the antibacterial activity of h-BN-based nanomaterials are in the initial stages.…”

Large scale synthesis of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets and their use in thermally conductive polyethylene nanocomposites

“…23 Consequently, several techniques have been developed to exfoliate bulk hBN to a single or few-layered hBNNs, including but not limited to mechanical cleavage, 20,35 solvent assisted sonication, 36,37 chemical vapor deposition, 20,38,39 and thermal exfoliation. 40 Exfoliation of hBN is very challenging because of the electronegativity difference between nitrogen and boron. As a result, most of the above exfoliation methods are inefficient and produce low yield, making them costly for large-scale production.…”

“…As a result, most of the above exfoliation methods are inefficient and produce low yield, making them costly for large-scale production. 35,40 The ball milling (BM) technique is the easiest and efficient method for hBN exfoliation. 41,42 Ding et al 41 reported a remarkably high yield reaching up to 98% of hBN nanosheets synthesized by the BM method.…”

“…Owing to their superior intrinsic and easier dispersion inside the polymer matrix, 2D hBNNs outperform 0D and 1D hBN nanostructures for nanocomposites' thermal conductivity enhancement 23 . Consequently, several techniques have been developed to exfoliate bulk hBN to a single or few‐layered hBNNs, including but not limited to mechanical cleavage, 20,35 solvent assisted sonication, 36,37 chemical vapor deposition, 20,38,39 and thermal exfoliation 40 . Exfoliation of hBN is very challenging because of the electronegativity difference between nitrogen and boron.…”