Investigation of exfloation of hexagonal boron nitride into nano flakes

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have garnered a remarkable attention since the successful separation of graphene, atomic layers of carbon, demonstrates novel electronic properties. BN exhibits high thermal stability, good mechanical strength for years. BN can be exfoliated to form unique 2D crystal structures called boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs). In this study, BNNS was modificated with vinyl trimethoxy-silane (VTS) to become a better interactive nanofiller with the polymer matrix phase which has so many inudstrial application areas such as functional polymer composite films filler nanomaterial because of its superior properties. As a first step, a highly competent and robust method called high pressure microfludization for large scale production of thin few layer boron nitride nano sheets (BNNSs), as a promising alternative to ultrasonication and sonication-centrifugation methods. BNNSs were derived from micro-sized hexagonal boron nitride of very thin large flakes using chemical exfoliation in the proper solvent combination of N,N dimethylformamide (DMF) and chloroform. Obtained BNNSs were modificated with silane and both BNNSs and the attachment of silane groups onto BNNSs surfaces were verified with a combination of various analtytical techniques including Nano-scaled particle size analzyer (NPSA), Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) equipped with ATR module, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy (SEM and TEM), Contact Angle Analyzer , and Termogravimetric analyzer (TGA).