Growth of high-crystalline, single-layer hexagonal boron nitride on recyclable platinum foil

Nano Lett. 2013 Apr 10;13(4):1834-9. doi: 10.1021/nl400559s. Epub 2013 Mar 27.

Abstract

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is gaining significant attention as a two-dimensional dielectric material, along with graphene and other such materials. Herein, we demonstrate the growth of highly crystalline, single-layer h-BN on Pt foil through a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition method that allowed h-BN to be grown over a wide area (8 × 25 mm(2)). An electrochemical bubbling-based method was used to transfer the grown h-BN layer from the Pt foil onto an arbitrary substrate. This allowed the Pt foil, which was not consumed during the process, to be recycled repeatedly. The UV-visible absorption spectrum of the single-layer h-BN suggested an optical band gap of 6.06 eV, while a high-resolution transmission electron microscopy image of the same showed the presence of distinct hexagonal arrays of B and N atoms, which were indicative of the highly crystalline nature and single-atom thickness of the h-BN layer. This method of growing single-layer h-BN over large areas was also compatible with use of a sapphire substrate.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Boron Compounds / chemistry*
  • Graphite / chemistry*
  • Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Nanostructures / chemistry
  • Particle Size
  • Platinum / chemistry
  • Surface Properties

Substances

  • Boron Compounds
  • boron nitride
  • Platinum
  • Graphite