The ability to isolate graphene, a single atom thick layer present in graphite, forms an important milestone in the science of nanomaterials. It not only helped realize the first truly 2D nanomaterial, but also motivated the scientific community to explore if other layered materials can also be nanoscaled in a similar fashion. The last decade has been witness to a rapid growth in the research efforts towards achieving an entire spectrum of inorganic nanosheets analogous to graphene. It is expected that boron nanosheets can present excellent platforms to utilize the versatile science of boron. The experimental discovery of borophene in recent times has added momentum to the 2D boron research front. Metal borides represent a family of strongly bonded layered materials in which boron honeycomb planes are held together by hexagonal arrays of metal atoms. Their construct, which is isostructural to intercalated graphite, holds utmost promise especially in view of realizing quasi-2D forms of boron. So far, metal borides have been primarily employed for their superior physico-chemical properties; for example titanium boride is a super hard ceramic while magnesium diboride is a well-known superconductor. Scientists have recently reported the delamination of layered metal diborides like MgB2 and AlB2, and have shown that nanosheets obtained from these metal borides are functionalized, but rich in boron. Here, we present the chemical synthesis of boron based nanosheets from another layered diboride, TiB2. The methodology utilizes an oxidative intercalation strategy to achieve the colloidal synthesis of chemically modified boron based nanosheets as aqueous dispersions in ultra-high yields of up to 10 mg/ml. The nanosheets are characterized by FESEM-EDX, UV-Vis, FTIR, and X-Ray Photoelectron spectroscopy. We also present evidence of the ability of these nanosheets to be easily assembled into paper-like macrostructures by vacuum assisted filtration. These free standing macrostructures have rich potential to be employed in fields as diverse as electrodes in energy applications to chemical filters. We show initial results of these nanomaterials’ ability to act as efficient dye adsorbents for waste water remediation.

Chemically modified titanium boride nanosheets: High yield synthesis and hierarchical assembly into paper-like macrostructures

2019 Fall National Meeting

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