Preparation of Boron Nitride Nanoplatelets via Amino Acid Assisted Ball Milling: Towards Thermal Conductivity Application
Nan Yang, Hai‐Feng Ji, Xiaoxia Jiang, Xiongwei Qu, Xiaojie Zhang, Yue Zhang, Binyuan Liu
Abstract
Hexagonal boron nitride nanoplatelets (BNNPs) have attracted widespread attention due to their unique physical properties and their peeling from the base material. Mechanical exfoliation is a simple, scalable approach to produce single-layer or few-layer BNNPs. In this work, two amino acid grafted boron nitride nanoplatelets, Lys@BNNP and Glu@BNNP, were successfully prepared via ball milling of h-BN with L-Lysine and L-Glutamic acid, respectively. It was found that the dispersion state of Lys@BNNP and Glu@BNNP in water had been effectively stabilized due to the introduction of amino acid moieties which contained a hydrophilic carboxyl group. PVA hydrogel composites with Lys@BNNP and Glu@BNNP as functional fillers were constructed and extensively studied. With 11.3 wt% Lys@BNNP incorporated, the thermal conductivity of Lys@BNNP/PVA hydrogel composite was up to 0.91 W m−1K−1, increased by 78%, comparing to the neat PVA hydrogel. Meanwhile, the mechanical and self-healing properties of the composites were simultaneously largely enhanced.