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Title: Controlled Gas Exfoliation of Boron Nitride into Few-Layered Nanosheets

Abstract

The controlled exfoliation of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) into single- or few-layered nanosheets remains a grand challenge and becomes the bottleneck to essential studies and applications of h-BN. Here, we present an efficient strategy for the scalable synthesis of few-layered h-BN nanosheets (BNNS) via a novel gas exfoliation of bulk h-BN in liquid N2 (L-N2). The essence of this strategy lies in the combination of a high temperature triggered expansion of bulk h-BN and the cryogenic L-N2 gasification to exfoliate the h-BN. The produced BNNS after ten cycles (BNNS-10) consisted primarily of fewer than five atomic layers with high a mass yield of 16~20%. N2 sorption and desorption isotherms show that the BNNS-10 exhibited a much higher specific surface area of 278 m2/g–1 than that of bulk BN (10 m2/g–1). Through the investigation of the exfoliated intermediates combined with a theoretical calculation, we found that the huge temperature variation initiates the expansion and curling of the bulk h-BN. Subseqently, the L-N2 penetrates into the interlayers of h-BN along the curling edge, followed by an immediate drastic gasification of L-N2, further peeling off h-BN. In conclusion, this novel gas exfoliation of high surface area BNNS not only opens up potential opportunitiesmore » for wide applications, but also can be extended to produce other layered materials with high yeilds.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [5]
  1. Jiangsu Univ., Zhenjiang (China); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  3. Jiangsu Univ., Zhenjiang (China)
  4. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  5. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1324184
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Angewandte Chemie (International Edition)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Angewandte Chemie (International Edition); Journal Volume: 55; Journal Issue: 36; Journal ID: ISSN 1433-7851
Publisher:
Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; exfoliation; nanosheets; boron nitride; liquid nitrogen; thermal expansion

Citation Formats

Zhu, Wenshuai, Gao, Xiang, Li, Qian, Li, Hongping, Chao, Yanhong, Li, Meijun, Mahurin, Shannon M., Li, Huaming, Zhu, Huiyuan, and Dai, Sheng. Controlled Gas Exfoliation of Boron Nitride into Few-Layered Nanosheets. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1002/anie.201605515.
Zhu, Wenshuai, Gao, Xiang, Li, Qian, Li, Hongping, Chao, Yanhong, Li, Meijun, Mahurin, Shannon M., Li, Huaming, Zhu, Huiyuan, & Dai, Sheng. Controlled Gas Exfoliation of Boron Nitride into Few-Layered Nanosheets. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201605515
Zhu, Wenshuai, Gao, Xiang, Li, Qian, Li, Hongping, Chao, Yanhong, Li, Meijun, Mahurin, Shannon M., Li, Huaming, Zhu, Huiyuan, and Dai, Sheng. Fri . "Controlled Gas Exfoliation of Boron Nitride into Few-Layered Nanosheets". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201605515. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1324184.
@article{osti_1324184,
title = {Controlled Gas Exfoliation of Boron Nitride into Few-Layered Nanosheets},
author = {Zhu, Wenshuai and Gao, Xiang and Li, Qian and Li, Hongping and Chao, Yanhong and Li, Meijun and Mahurin, Shannon M. and Li, Huaming and Zhu, Huiyuan and Dai, Sheng},
abstractNote = {The controlled exfoliation of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) into single- or few-layered nanosheets remains a grand challenge and becomes the bottleneck to essential studies and applications of h-BN. Here, we present an efficient strategy for the scalable synthesis of few-layered h-BN nanosheets (BNNS) via a novel gas exfoliation of bulk h-BN in liquid N2 (L-N2). The essence of this strategy lies in the combination of a high temperature triggered expansion of bulk h-BN and the cryogenic L-N2 gasification to exfoliate the h-BN. The produced BNNS after ten cycles (BNNS-10) consisted primarily of fewer than five atomic layers with high a mass yield of 16~20%. N2 sorption and desorption isotherms show that the BNNS-10 exhibited a much higher specific surface area of 278 m2/g–1 than that of bulk BN (10 m2/g–1). Through the investigation of the exfoliated intermediates combined with a theoretical calculation, we found that the huge temperature variation initiates the expansion and curling of the bulk h-BN. Subseqently, the L-N2 penetrates into the interlayers of h-BN along the curling edge, followed by an immediate drastic gasification of L-N2, further peeling off h-BN. In conclusion, this novel gas exfoliation of high surface area BNNS not only opens up potential opportunities for wide applications, but also can be extended to produce other layered materials with high yeilds.},
doi = {10.1002/anie.201605515},
journal = {Angewandte Chemie (International Edition)},
number = 36,
volume = 55,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jul 22 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Fri Jul 22 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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