Hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) Powder

Naclerio, A. E.; et al. Nano Letters. 2025, 25(8): 3221-3232.

Nanopores embedded within monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) offer possibilities of creating atomically thin ceramic membranes with unique combinations of high permeance (atomic thinness), high selectivity (via molecular sieving), increased thermal stability, and superior chemical resistance. However, fabricating size-selective nanopores in monolayer h-BN via scalable top-down processes remains nontrivial due to its chemical inertness, and characterizing nanopore size distribution over a large area remains extremely challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate a facile and scalable approach of exploiting the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process temperature to enable direct incorporation of subnanometer/nanoscale pores into the monolayer h-BN lattice, in combination with manufacturing compatible polymer casting to fabricate centimeter-scale nanoporous atomically thin ceramic membranes.

The authors leverage diffusive transport of analytes including size-selective Ficoll sieving to characterize subnanometer-scale and nanoscale defects that manifest as pores in centimeter-scale h-BN membranes, overcoming previous limitations in large-area characterization of nanoscale defects in h-BN. This approach opens a new frontier to advance atomically thin membranes to 2D ceramic materials, such as h-BN via facile and direct formation of nanopores, for size-selective separations.

Riyas, Z. M.; et al. Ionics. 2025, 31(5): 4991-5011.

This study outlines the liquid-phase exfoliation technique used to produce La₂O₃-h-BN nanocomposites. Lanthanum oxide (La2O3) was synthesized, and to enhance supercapacitor performance through a synergistic effect, 2D hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) was incorporated. The resulting nanocomposites were analysed using XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDAX, HR-TEM, SAED, BET, and XPS methodologies. The La2O3-h-BN electrodes, designed for supercapacitor applications, achieved a specific capacitance of 412 F/g at a current density of 0.5 A/g. The electrode also demonstrated remarkable cyclic stability, retaining 86% of its capacitance even after 3000 charge/discharge cycles at 4 A/g. An asymmetric supercapacitor device was fabricated using La2O3-h-BN as the positive electrode and activated carbon as the negative electrode. This device exhibited a peak energy density of 59 Wh/kg at a power density of 1805 W/kg, maintained 91% capacitance retention after 2000 cycles at 4 A/g, and demonstrated a noteworthy coulombic efficiency of 90%.Therefore, the developed La₂O₃-h-BN electrode material presents exciting prospects for use as a potential electrode in future energy storage technologies.

Yang, Y.; et al. Nano Research. 2025, 18(4).

Two-dimensional nanomaterials were commonly used as lubrication additives. However, the high demand for the load-bearing capacity limited their industrial applications. This study proposed a new strategy to overcome this limitation by depositing silver (Ag) nanoparticles on hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) nanosheets via dopamine through the reduction reaction of silver ions, and the Ag modified hBN nanosheets (hBN-Ag) were used as additives in aqueous ethylene glycol solution.

The results showed that the superlubricity state with a minimum coefficient of friction (COF) of 0.004 at a maximum contact pressure of 1.20 GPa was achieved without the running-in period. The realization of superlubricity was attributed to the synergic effect of Ag nanoparticles and hBN nanosheets, where Ag nanoparticles were attached to the hBN nanosheets by dopamine, enhancing the load-bearing capacity of the hBN nanosheets. Simultaneously, the Ag modified hBN nanosheets were more easily adsorbed and deposited on the friction interface, generating the tribofilm containing hBN-Ag nanosheets through the tribochemical reaction, which reduced the direct contact of the friction pair and provided low shear strength to generate extremely low friction.