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Journal ArticleDOI

Boron nitride materials: an overview from 0D to 3D (nano)structures

TL;DR: In this paper, the combination of BN and C materials forming heterostructures has gained an increasing importance in the nano-sciences, especially in the fields of nano-electronics, optoelectronics, field emission, and lubrication in extreme conditions of temperature.
Abstract: Boron nitride (BN) materials present different crystalline phases including fullerene-like (0D), nanotubes (1D, NTs), hexagonal (2D, h-BN), and cubic (3D) structures. These materials show a rich variety of physical and chemical properties with multiple potential applications in industry, science, and technology, especially in the fields of nano-electronics, optoelectronics, field emission, and lubrication in extreme conditions of temperature. BN compounds are chemically and thermally very stable and resistant to oxidation. The large electronic band gap confers to BN compounds complementary electronic properties to the C allotropes with similar structure. The combination of BN and C materials forming heterostructures has gained an increasing importance in the nano-sciences. In particular, heterostructures combining graphene with mono- and multi-layer h-BN, or C- with BN-nanotubes are the object of intensive study in nano-sciences due to their unique electronic properties. Applications based on BN structures have created great expectations and offer enormous possibilities in the next generation of electronic devices. However, the massive production of high-quality defect-free BN materials is still an experimental challenge. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2015, 5:299–309. doi: 10.1002/wcms.1219 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Conflict of interest: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Fang Jiang, Siqi Cui, Na Song, Liyi Shi, Peng Ding 
TL;DR: This study provides a guided hydrogen bond strategy for thermally conductive polymer composites with good mechanical and electrical insulation properties in thermal management and other applications.
Abstract: Highly thermal conductive polymer composites with minimized content of fillers are desirable for handling the issue in thermal management in modern electronics. However, the difficulty of filler dispersion restricts the heat dissipation performance of thermoplastic composites and the intermolecular interaction is another crucial factor in this problem. In the present study, the hydrogen bond was used to regulate the formation of the three-dimensional boron nitride (3D BN) interconnected network to act as a high thermal conductive network in thermoplastic polyamide-imide (PAI) materials. The prepared electrical insulated PAI/3D–BN composites have a thermal conductivity (TC) of 1.17 W·m–1·K–1 at a low BN loading of 4 wt %/2 vol % and exhibit a thermal conductivity enhancement of 409%. We attribute the increased TC to the construction of 3D BN interconnected network and the hydrogen bond regulated between hydroxylated BN and polyvinyl alcohol, in which an effective thermal conductive network is constructed. ...

190 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a functionalized black phosphorus nanosheets (BP@MF) is introduced into epoxy resin (EP) to evaluate its thermal stability and flame retardant properties.

101 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a facile method for the first synthesis of ultrafine porous boron nitride (BN) nanofibers in high purity and a high yield was developed, including two-steps, freeze-drying of a hot melamine/boric acid solution and post pyrolysis of the as-obtained products.
Abstract: One-dimensional (1D) boron nitride (BN) nanostructures with a high aspect ratio are of prime interest due to their importance in fundamental research and wide-range potential applications. Herein we developed a facile method for the first synthesis of ultrafine porous BN nanofibers in high purity and a high yield. The method included two-steps, freeze-drying of a hot melamine/boric acid solution and post pyrolysis of the as-obtained products. The extremely rapid cooling of the hot melamine/boric acid solution during the freeze-drying process resulted in the formation of ultrafine precursors, which was the key for the final synthesis of porous BN nanofibers with downsized diameters (20–60 nm) and high aspect ratios. The as-synthesized ultrafine BN nanofibers possessed a high specific surface area and a large pore volume, which could be tuned by the pyrolysis parameters. All of these characteristics make the porous BN nanofibers promising in the applications of water treatment, hydrogen storage, catalyst support, etc. Especially, ultrafast adsorption of methylene blue (MB) in water has been demonstrated using the present porous BN nanofibers as an adsorbent.

80 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An extensive review of the thermoelectric characteristics of bulk phases of BN (like a-BN, c-BN and w-BN), hexagonal-BN (h-BN) and boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) is presented in this article.
Abstract: The era of thermoelectric materials has begun in the search of clean, green and renewable anticipated energy resources. Thermoelectric materials are attracting a lot of spotlights by directly converting waste heat in electricity and could be a valuable part in world's energy emergence. Present review provides an insight into the emerging boron nitride (BN) structures on the basis of their thermoelectric properties. In the recent years, advances in the synthesis of boron nitride based structures which are analogous to carbon, have attracted significant interest by the researchers. The electronic, optical and vibrational properties of boron nitride structures are widely studied, while the thermoelectric properties have not been thoroughly investigated. However, over the past years, a significant effort has been directed towards the enhancement of their thermoelectric properties. The higher the value of figure of merit (ZT), the greater is the production of electricity. Different technologies were adopted by researchers in developing the thermoelectric efficiency. Due to the interconnection between thermoelectric parameters it is difficult to achieve ZT up to 2 or 3. Commercially existing Pb–Te and Bi–Te based thermoelectric materials provide good thermoelectric efficiency but are toxic, denser and of high cost. Therefore, there is a need of environment friendly, reusable and low cost thermoelectric materials. An extensive review of the thermoelectric characteristics of bulk phases of BN (like a-BN, c-BN, and w-BN), hexagonal-BN (h-BN), boron nitride nanotube (BNNT), boron nitride nanoribbon (ABNNR and ZBNNR), boron nitride quantum dots and boron nitride composites is presented. This evolution in boron nitride based materials will elucidate their potential for developing high-performance next-generation thermoelectric devices.

78 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the basic theoretical aspects of graphene, a one-atom-thick allotrope of carbon, with unusual two-dimensional Dirac-like electronic excitations, are discussed.
Abstract: This article reviews the basic theoretical aspects of graphene, a one-atom-thick allotrope of carbon, with unusual two-dimensional Dirac-like electronic excitations. The Dirac electrons can be controlled by application of external electric and magnetic fields, or by altering sample geometry and/or topology. The Dirac electrons behave in unusual ways in tunneling, confinement, and the integer quantum Hall effect. The electronic properties of graphene stacks are discussed and vary with stacking order and number of layers. Edge (surface) states in graphene depend on the edge termination (zigzag or armchair) and affect the physical properties of nanoribbons. Different types of disorder modify the Dirac equation leading to unusual spectroscopic and transport properties. The effects of electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions in single layer and multilayer graphene are also presented.

20,824 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Graphene devices on h-BN substrates have mobilities and carrier inhomogeneities that are almost an order of magnitude better than devices on SiO(2).
Abstract: Graphene devices on standard SiO(2) substrates are highly disordered, exhibiting characteristics that are far inferior to the expected intrinsic properties of graphene. Although suspending the graphene above the substrate leads to a substantial improvement in device quality, this geometry imposes severe limitations on device architecture and functionality. There is a growing need, therefore, to identify dielectrics that allow a substrate-supported geometry while retaining the quality achieved with a suspended sample. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is an appealing substrate, because it has an atomically smooth surface that is relatively free of dangling bonds and charge traps. It also has a lattice constant similar to that of graphite, and has large optical phonon modes and a large electrical bandgap. Here we report the fabrication and characterization of high-quality exfoliated mono- and bilayer graphene devices on single-crystal h-BN substrates, by using a mechanical transfer process. Graphene devices on h-BN substrates have mobilities and carrier inhomogeneities that are almost an order of magnitude better than devices on SiO(2). These devices also show reduced roughness, intrinsic doping and chemical reactivity. The ability to assemble crystalline layered materials in a controlled way permits the fabrication of graphene devices on other promising dielectrics and allows for the realization of more complex graphene heterostructures.

6,261 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
18 Aug 1995-Science
TL;DR: Electron energy-loss spectroscopy on individual tubes yielded B:N ratios of approximately 1, which is consistent with theoretical predictions of stable BN tube structures.
Abstract: The successful synthesis of pure boron nitride (BN) nanotubes is reported here. Multi-walled tubes with inner diameters on the order of 1 to 3 nanometers and with lengths up to 200 nanometers were produced in a carbon-free plasma discharge between a BN-packed tungsten rod and a cooled copper electrode. Electron energy-loss spectroscopy on individual tubes yielded B:N ratios of approximately 1, which is consistent with theoretical predictions of stable BN tube structures.

2,926 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: HBN is shown to be a promising material for compact ultraviolet laser devices because it has a direct bandgap in the ultraviolet region and evidence for room-temperature ultraviolet lasing at 215 nm by accelerated electron excitation is provided.
Abstract: The demand for compact ultraviolet laser devices is increasing, as they are essential in applications such as optical storage, photocatalysis, sterilization, ophthalmic surgery and nanosurgery. Many researchers are devoting considerable effort to finding materials with larger bandgaps than that of GaN. Here we show that hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is a promising material for such laser devices because it has a direct bandgap in the ultraviolet region. We obtained a pure hBN single crystal under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions, which shows a dominant luminescence peak and a series of s-like exciton absorption bands around 215 nm, proving it to be a direct-bandgap material. Evidence for room-temperature ultraviolet lasing at 215 nm by accelerated electron excitation is provided by the enhancement and narrowing of the longitudinal mode, threshold behaviour of the excitation current dependence of the emission intensity, and a far-field pattern of the transverse mode.

2,550 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The large area synthesis of h-BN films consisting of two to five atomic layers, using chemical vapor deposition, show a large optical energy band gap of 5.5 eV and are highly transparent over a broad wavelength range.
Abstract: Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), a layered material similar to graphite, is a promising dielectric. Monolayer h-BN, so-called "white graphene", has been isolated from bulk BN and could be useful as a complementary two-dimensional dielectric substrate for graphene electronics. Here we report the large area synthesis of h-BN films consisting of two to five atomic layers, using chemical vapor deposition. These atomic films show a large optical energy band gap of 5.5 eV and are highly transparent over a broad wavelength range. The mechanical properties of the h-BN films, measured by nanoindentation, show 2D elastic modulus in the range of 200-500 N/m, which is corroborated by corresponding theoretical calculations.

2,362 citations