Purification of boron nitride nanotubes via polymer wrapping

Purification of Boron Nitride Nanotubes Enhances Biological Application Properties

“…All these aspects of low purity BNNTs greatly hinder their potential usage in biological application. Currently, many careful BNNT purification methods have been developed [24][25][26][27][28][29] in order to produce highly purified BNNTs; however, side-by-side comparison studies between unpurified BNNTs and purified BNNTs (pBNNTs) in biological applications are rare. In order to examine the effectiveness of pBNNTs in biological applications, and to fill the research gap and determine the effect of BNNT purification on their biological properties, including cytotoxicity, water dispersibility, and drug encapsulation, we conducted systematic studies comparing BNNTs and pBNNTs.…”

Surfactant-assisted individualization and dispersion of boron nitride nanotubes

“…The ability to fabricate macroscopic materials of BNNTs has also been hindered greatly by the poor dispersibility of BNNTs in all solvents. Researchers have attempted to overcome this barrier in a variety of ways, including covalent/non-covalent functionalization, [13][14][15][16][17][18] polymer or peptide wrapping, [19][20][21][22][23][24] co-solvent systems, 25 surfactants, [26][27][28] strong acids, 12,29 and other aromatic and biomolecules. 9,10,[30][31][32][33][34] One promising way to disperse BNNTs into aqueous solution is through the use of surfactants.…”

Dynamic thin film mediated slicing of boron nitride nanotubes

“…There are reports on purifying BNNTs using heating and washing with HCl 45,46 and using polymers to coat the BNNTs to facilitate separation and purication. 47,48 We explored a number of approaches to remove impurities from the as received material, Fig. S2-S5.…”