posted on 2015-09-08, 00:00authored byXiaoliang Zeng, Lei Ye, Shuhui Yu, Rong Sun, Jianbin Xu, Ching-Ping Wong
As a structural analogue of graphene,
boron nitride nanosheets
(BNNSs) have attracted ever-growing research interest in the past
few years, due to their remarkably mechanical, electrical, and thermal
properties. The preparation of BNNS aerogels is considered to be one
of the most effective approaches for their practical applications.
However, it has remained a great challenge to fabricate BNNS aerogels
with superelasticity by a facile method. Here, we report the preparation
of BNNS aerogels via a facile method involving polymer-assisted cross-linking
and freeze-casting strategies. The resulting aerogels exhibit a well-ordered
and anisotropic microstructure, leading to anisotropic superelasticity,
high compressive strength, and excellent energy absorption ability.
The unique microstructure also endows the aerogels with ultralow dielectric
constant (1.24) and loss (∼0.003). The successful fabrication
of such fascinating materials paves the way for application of BNNSs
in energy-absorbing services, catalyst carrier, and environmental
remediation, etc.