Pan Jingjing, Wang Jingyang
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang 110016 China
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei 230026 China.
Nanoscale Adv. 2019 Dec 16;2(1):149-155. doi: 10.1039/c9na00702d. eCollection 2020 Jan 22.
As a porous material with a nanoscale skeleton, aerogel serves as a bridge between the nano- and macro-world. The integration of nanostructures into aerogels not only allows the combination of multidimensional features but also implies the possibility of unexpected properties. With great potential in many fields, boron nitride (BN) nanostructures have garnered growing attention and their existence in the aerogel state holds even more promise. However, the existing fabrication routes in the aerogel field, despite their validity and effectiveness, provide no panacea and are challenged by those incompatible with the current preparation toolbox, among which BN stands out. Herein, a multilevel assembly scheme is demonstrated for the elegant fabrication of BN aerogels consisting of varied superstructures, , nanoribbons composed of tiny nanocrystals and nest-like structures tangled by nanofibers, the realization of which the traditional molecular route or the classic assembly route is rather difficult. Interestingly, the resultant aerogels were found to exhibit great contrast in their hydrophilicity, which could be attributed to the microstructure difference. This study may raise the prospects of BN in energy, environment, bio-applications, It may also give inspirations for the incorporation of other complex structures into aerogels.
作为一种具有纳米级骨架的多孔材料，气凝胶充当了纳米世界和宏观世界之间的桥梁。将纳米结构集成到气凝胶中，不仅能够实现多维特性的结合，还意味着可能产生意想不到的性能。氮化硼（BN）纳米结构在许多领域具有巨大潜力，因此受到越来越多的关注，其气凝胶状态的存在更是前景广阔。然而，气凝胶领域现有的制备方法虽然有效，但并非万能，且面临着与当前制备工具不兼容的挑战，其中BN尤为突出。在此，展示了一种多级组装方案，用于巧妙制备由各种超结构组成的BN气凝胶，即由微小纳米晶体组成的纳米带和由纳米纤维缠结而成的巢状结构，而传统的分子路线或经典组装路线很难实现这一点。有趣的是，发现所得气凝胶在亲水性方面表现出很大差异，这可归因于微观结构的不同。本研究可能会提升BN在能源、环境、生物应用等方面的前景，也可能为将其他复杂结构纳入气凝胶提供灵感。
