Zuo Kuichang, Zhang Xiang, Huang Xiaochuan, Oliveira Eliezer F, Guo Hua, Zhai Tianshu, Wang Weipeng, Alvarez Pedro J J, Elimelech Menachem, Ajayan Pulickel M, Lou Jun, Li Qilin
The Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education; College of Environment Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, MS 519, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX, 77005, USA.
Nat Commun. 2022 Aug 4;13(1):4523. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32193-4.
Formation of mineral scale on a material surface has profound impact on a wide range of natural processes as well as industrial applications. However, how specific material surface characteristics affect the mineral-surface interactions and subsequent mineral scale formation is not well understood. Here we report the superior resistance of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) to mineral scale formation compared to not only common metal and polymer surfaces but also the highly scaling-resistant graphene, making hBN possibly the most scaling resistant material reported to date. Experimental and simulation results reveal that this ultrahigh scaling-resistance is attributed to the combination of hBN's atomically-smooth surface, in-plane atomic energy corrugation due to the polar boron-nitrogen bond, and the close match between its interatomic spacing and the size of water molecules. The latter two properties lead to strong polar interactions with water and hence the formation of a dense hydration layer, which strongly hinders the approach of mineral ions and crystals, decreasing both surface heterogeneous nucleation and crystal attachment.
材料表面矿物质垢的形成对广泛的自然过程以及工业应用都有着深远影响。然而，具体的材料表面特性如何影响矿物质与表面的相互作用以及随后的矿物质垢形成，目前还不太清楚。在此，我们报告了六方氮化硼（hBN）与普通金属和聚合物表面相比，不仅对矿物质垢形成具有卓越的抗性，而且与具有高度抗垢性的石墨烯相比也是如此，这使得hBN可能成为迄今为止报道的最具抗垢性的材料。实验和模拟结果表明，这种超高抗垢性归因于hBN原子级光滑的表面、由于极性硼 - 氮键导致的面内原子能量起伏，以及其原子间距与水分子大小的紧密匹配。后两个特性导致与水形成强烈的极性相互作用，从而形成致密的水化层，这强烈阻碍了矿物质离子和晶体的接近，减少了表面异相成核和晶体附着。
