Fabricating boron nitride nanosheets from hexagonal BN in water solution by a combined sonication and thermal-assisted hydrolysis method

Abstract Boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) have unique and excellent thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties. But, their low efficiency in the production methods restricts their applications in the study of researchers. Hence, we reported a study in which BNNSs were successfully produced through a simple, affordable, and high-efficiency method. In this approach, hexagonal boron nitride block (h-BN) was firstly examined in aqueous solution under sonication (120 min) to produce hydroxyl functionalization and; furthermore, to penetrate water molecules between the layers. Then, with the explosion of the water molecules into the h-BN layers in the presence of heat, the space between the layers was increased. Finally, with the exfoliation of bulk h-BN layers through the ultrasonic irradiation, the ultrathin BNNSs were produced with an efficiency of 37%. The TEM and AFM images confirmed that the obtained BNNSs have mainly consisted of nanosheets with a thickness in the range of 3–8 nm. The results of UV–Vis analysis of BNNSs compared to h-BN showed a strong absorption peak at 204 nm−1, which confirmed the presence of nanosheets. Also, other analyses, including XRD, BET, and FT-IR, confirmed the structure of BNNSs.