Hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) in Solutes Separation

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.