Boron nitride aerogel

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Boron nitride aerogel
Physical properties
Density (ρ)0.6 mg/cm³
Mechanical properties
Tensile strength (σt)Not specified
Compressive strength (σc)Not specified
Thermal properties
Melting temperature (Tm)Sublimes at ~3000°C
Thermal conductivity (k)~0.02 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹
BN aerogel with a mass density of 0.6 mg/cm resting on human hair. BN aerogel on hair.jpg
BN aerogel with a mass density of 0.6 mg/cm resting on human hair.
Electron micrographs showing the internal structure of BN aerogel consisting of BN nanotubes and nanosheets. BN aerogel SEM-TEM.jpg
Electron micrographs showing the internal structure of BN aerogel consisting of BN nanotubes and nanosheets.
Top: absorption of cyclohexane by BN aerogel within 5 seconds. Cyclohexane is stained with Sudan II red dye and is floating on water. Bottom: reuse of the aerogel after burning in air. Oil absorption by BN aerogel.jpg
Top: absorption of cyclohexane by BN aerogel within 5 seconds. Cyclohexane is stained with Sudan II red dye and is floating on water. Bottom: reuse of the aerogel after burning in air.

Boron nitride aerogel is an aerogel made of highly porous boron nitride (BN). [2] It typically consists of a mixture of deformed boron nitride nanotubes and nanosheets. [3] It can have a density as low as 0.6 mg/cm3 and a specific surface area as high as 1050 m2/g, and therefore has potential applications as an absorbent, catalyst support and gas storage medium. BN aerogels are highly hydrophobic and can absorb up to 160 times their mass in oil. They are resistant to oxidation in air at temperatures up to 1200 °C, [4] and hence can be reused after the absorbed oil is burned out by flame. BN aerogels can be prepared by template-assisted chemical vapor deposition at a temperature ~900 °C using borazine as the feed gas. [1] Alternatively it can be produced by ball milling h-BN powder, ultrasonically dispersing it in water, and freeze-drying the dispersion. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Song, Yangxi; Li, Bin; Yang, Siwei; Ding, Guqiao; Zhang, Changrui; Xie, Xiaoming (2015). "Ultralight boron nitride aerogels via template-assisted chemical vapor deposition". Scientific Reports. 5 10337. Bibcode:2015NatSR...510337S. doi:10.1038/srep10337. PMC   4432566 . PMID   25976019.
  2. Krishna Kumar, A. Santhana; Warchol, Jolanta; Matusik, Jakub; Tseng, Wei-Lung; Rajesh, N.; Bajda, Tomasz (2022-07-04). "Heavy metal and organic dye removal via a hybrid porous hexagonal boron nitride-based magnetic aerogel". npj Clean Water. 5 (1) 24. Bibcode:2022npjCW...5...24K. doi: 10.1038/s41545-022-00175-0 . ISSN   2059-7037.
  3. Singh, Bikramjeet; Kaur, Gurpreet; Singh, Paviter; Singh, Kulwinder; Kumar, Baban; Vij, Ankush; Kumar, Manjeet; Bala, Rajni; Meena, Ramovatar; Singh, Ajay; Thakur, Anup; Kumar, Akshay (2016-10-19). "Nanostructured Boron Nitride With High Water Dispersibility For Boron Neutron Capture Therapy". Scientific Reports. 6 (1) 35535. Bibcode:2016NatSR...635535S. doi:10.1038/srep35535. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   5069687 . PMID   27759052.
  4. Su, Lei; Wang, Hongjie; Niu, Min; Dai, Sheng; Cai, Zhixin; Yang, Biguo; Huyan, Huaixun; Pan, Xiaoqing (2020-06-26). "Anisotropic and hierarchical SiC@SiO2 nanowire aerogel with exceptional stiffness and stability for thermal superinsulation". Science Advances. 6 (26) eaay6689. Bibcode:2020SciA....6.6689S. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aay6689. ISSN   2375-2548. PMC   7314525 . PMID   32637589.
  5. Lei, Weiwei; Mochalin, Vadym N.; Liu, Dan; Qin, Si; Gogotsi, Yury; Chen, Ying (2015). "Boron nitride colloidal solutions, ultralight aerogels and freestanding membranes through one-step exfoliation and functionalization". Nature Communications. 6 8849. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6.8849L. doi:10.1038/ncomms9849. PMC   4674780 . PMID   26611437.