AI Article Synopsis
- Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are gaining attention for their unique properties and potential uses in areas like electrical insulation and thermal conductivity, unlike carbon nanotubes.
- However, their tendency to bundle and their water insolubility hinder practical applications, mainly due to strong van der Waals forces and hydrophobic characteristics.
- The study introduces a method to create a stable dispersion of noncovalently functionalized BNNTs (p-BNNTs) in water, which remain stable for over a year and can be easily redispersed after freeze-drying, enhancing their usability.
Article Abstract
Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) have attracted significant interest because of the remarkable difference in their physical properties compared with carbon nanotubes and their far-reaching potential applications, including electrical insulators; thermally conducting, catalytic, and piezoelectric materials; and neutron absorbers. Despite their unique physical properties, the bundling and insolubility of BNNTs in water because of its substantial van der Waals attraction and hydrophobicity, respectively, give rise to many limitations in practical applications. Here, we present a new way to produce a highly stable BNNT dispersion by the noncovalent functionalization of the BNNT surface in water. The noncovalently functionalized BNNTs (p-BNNTs) have been found to be highly stable in water for a long time (>1 year) and easily water-redispersible by mild vortex mixing for a few minutes even after freeze-drying at -45 °C. The p-BNNTs were cylindrically encapsulated with polymerizable surfactants (BNNT diameter = ca. 3 nm and surfactant thickness = 0.8 nm).
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01177 | DOI Listing |
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