초순수 용매 내 육방정 질화붕소 나노시트의 농도와크기의 관계

Abstract

According to a report in 2011, hexagonal boron nitride demonstrated good solubility in pure water, even without surfactants or organic functionalization. Hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets are an effective lubricant additive, and their solubility in pure water has motivated lubrication engineers to utilize aqueous solutions containing these nanosheets as water-based lubricants. In this study, we measure the width and height of the hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets dispersed in pure water by using the Zetasizer and atomic force microscopy. Without surfactants or functionalization, aqueous solutions containing 0.10, 0.07, 0.05, and 0.01 wt% of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets are synthesized via sonication-assisted hydrolysis. The Zetasizer provides only a one-dimensional size of approximately 410 nm, regardless of the concentration of the solution. Thus, it does not allow the estimation of the shape of the nanosheet. To acquire the three-dimensional size of the nanosheets, atomic force microscopy is employed. The aqueous solutions containing 0.10, 0.07, 0.05, and 0.01 wt% of the hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets show average values of 740, 450, 700, and 610 nm in width, and 37, 26, 33, and 32 nm in thickness, respectively. No significant trend is observed between the concentration of the solution and size of the nanosheets. Therefore, when preparing a water-based lubricant, it may be appropriate to adjust conditions such as ultrasonication time rather than the concentration.