Boron nitride colloidal solutions, ultralight aerogels and freestanding membranes through one-step exfoliation and functionalization

Weiwei Lei (), Vadym N. Mochalin, Dan Liu, Si Qin, Yury Gogotsi and Ying Chen ()
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Weiwei Lei: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia
Vadym N. Mochalin: A. J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, Drexel University
Dan Liu: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia
Si Qin: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia
Yury Gogotsi: A. J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, Drexel University
Ying Chen: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Manufacturing of aerogels and membranes from hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is much more difficult than from graphene or graphene oxides because of the poor dispersibility of h-BN in water, which limits its exfoliation and preparation of colloidal solutions. Here, a simple, one-step mechano-chemical process to exfoliate and functionalize h-BN into highly water-dispersible, few-layer h-BN containing amino groups is presented. The colloidal solutions of few-layer h-BN can have unprecedentedly high concentrations, up to 30 mg ml−1, and are stable for up to several months. They can be used to produce ultralight aerogels with a density of 1.4 mg cm−3, which is ∼1,500 times less than bulk h-BN, and freestanding membranes simply by cryodrying and filtration, respectively. The material shows strong blue light emission under ultraviolet excitation, in both dispersed and dry state.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9849

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