Title
Few-Layered Boron Nitride Nanosheets for Strengthening Polyurethane Hydrogels
Publication Name
ACS Applied Nano Materials
Abstract
Two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) are an outstanding filler and additive, since they are transparent, thermally stable, and chemically inert. However, it is difficult to obtain few-layered BNNS with large lateral sizes in an efficient way due to the strong interlayer interactions in h-BN. Herein, a facile and efficient molten salt-assisted synthesis has been developed to prepare few-layered BNNS with a few microns in lateral size. Ammonia borane was mixed with KCl and NaCl and then heated to 1000 °C and held for 2 min, and the resultant powders were sonicated in water to produce hydroxylated BNNS. Used as an additive with 0.066 wt % loading, the functionalized BNNS can effectively improve the mechanical modulus of polyurethane (PU) hydrogels from 1635 to 2776 kPa, and the optical property of the hydrogel is not compromised. The BNNS-reinforced PU hydrogel with significantly improved mechanical properties can be highly useful in the application of printed electronics.
Open Access Status
This publication is not available as open access
Funding Number
FT190100658
Funding Sponsor
Australian Research Council