Hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN)
in Solutes Separation
Sima Majidi, Siamak Pakdel, Jafar Azamat, and Hamid Erfan-Niya
Abstract Thanks to rapid progress in the investigation of two-dimensional (2D)
substances, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has shown outstanding properties as
filtration membrane and adsorbent for water purification applications. In this chapter,
we explain the synthesis methods of h-BN including exfoliation and chemical vapor
deposition. And then, the computer simulations in the field of h-BN nanosheets are
described, and several recent studies of the membrane filtration of h-BN and pollutant adsorption of h-BN are reviewed from molecular dynamics insights. All findings
suggest the promising potential of h-BN for water purification. We further reveal a
brief experimental works which investigated the performance of h-BN for separation of solutes. The h-BN not only shows considerable adsorption potential for
a wide range of oils, model dyes, and various metallic ions but also reveals high
recoverability. To this end, several other new fabrication techniques are described.
Despite several researches in this field, there are still research gaps which have been
mentioned in the last section of this chapter.
Keywords Hexagonal boron nitride · Membrane · Adsorption · Molecular
dynamics · Water purification
1 Introduction
Bulk hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a graphite type structure, in which flat
networks of BN hexagons are regularly set [1]. Two-dimensional (2D) h-BN
nanosheets are sp
2 -hybridized 2D insulators [2, 3] with sub-lattices being inhabited with the same numbers of nitrogen (N) and boron (B) atoms alternately in a
honeycomb arrangement [4]. The loading design of interlayer in the h-BN presents
S. Majidi · S. Pakdel · H. Erfan-Niya (B)
Faculty of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 51666-16471, Iran
e-mail: herfan@tabrizu.ac.ir
J. Azamat
Department of Basic Sciences, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Das (ed.), Two-Dimensional (2D) Nanomaterials in Separation Science,
Springer Series on Polymer and Composite Materials,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72457-3_7
163
in Solutes Separation
Sima Majidi, Siamak Pakdel, Jafar Azamat, and Hamid Erfan-Niya
Abstract Thanks to rapid progress in the investigation of two-dimensional (2D)
substances, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has shown outstanding properties as
filtration membrane and adsorbent for water purification applications. In this chapter,
we explain the synthesis methods of h-BN including exfoliation and chemical vapor
deposition. And then, the computer simulations in the field of h-BN nanosheets are
described, and several recent studies of the membrane filtration of h-BN and pollutant adsorption of h-BN are reviewed from molecular dynamics insights. All findings
suggest the promising potential of h-BN for water purification. We further reveal a
brief experimental works which investigated the performance of h-BN for separation of solutes. The h-BN not only shows considerable adsorption potential for
a wide range of oils, model dyes, and various metallic ions but also reveals high
recoverability. To this end, several other new fabrication techniques are described.
Despite several researches in this field, there are still research gaps which have been
mentioned in the last section of this chapter.
Keywords Hexagonal boron nitride · Membrane · Adsorption · Molecular
dynamics · Water purification
1 Introduction
Bulk hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a graphite type structure, in which flat
networks of BN hexagons are regularly set [1]. Two-dimensional (2D) h-BN
nanosheets are sp
2 -hybridized 2D insulators [2, 3] with sub-lattices being inhabited with the same numbers of nitrogen (N) and boron (B) atoms alternately in a
honeycomb arrangement [4]. The loading design of interlayer in the h-BN presents
S. Majidi · S. Pakdel · H. Erfan-Niya (B)
Faculty of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 51666-16471, Iran
e-mail: herfan@tabrizu.ac.ir
J. Azamat
Department of Basic Sciences, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Das (ed.), Two-Dimensional (2D) Nanomaterials in Separation Science,
Springer Series on Polymer and Composite Materials,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72457-3_7
163