Ion‐Conductive, Viscosity‐Tunable Hexagonal Boron Nitride Nanosheet Inks

Liquid‐phase exfoliation of layered solids holds promise for the scalable production of 2D nanosheets. When combined with suitable solvents and stabilizing polymers, the rheology of the resulting nanosheet dispersions can be tuned for a variety of additive manufacturing methods. While significant pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advanced functional materials 2019-09, Vol.29 (39), p.n/a
Main Authors: Moraes, Ana C. M., Hyun, Woo Jin, Seo, Jung‐Woo T., Downing, Julia R., Lim, Jin‐Myoung, Hersam, Mark C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blade coating
Boron nitride
Dispersants
Electrical resistivity
Electrochemical analysis
Electrolytes
Electrolytic cells
Energy storage
Ethyl cellulose
Exfoliation
hBN
Inkjet printing
Inks
Ion currents
liquid‐phase exfoliation
Lithium-ion batteries
Materials science
Nanosheets
Organic chemistry
Polymers
Production methods
Rheological properties
Rheology
Separators
Thermal stability
Viscosity
Wettability
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Summary:Liquid‐phase exfoliation of layered solids holds promise for the scalable production of 2D nanosheets. When combined with suitable solvents and stabilizing polymers, the rheology of the resulting nanosheet dispersions can be tuned for a variety of additive manufacturing methods. While significant progress is made in the development of electrically conductive nanosheet inks, minimal effort is applied to ion‐conductive nanosheet inks despite their central role in energy storage applications. Here, the formulation of viscosity‐tunable hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) inks compatible with a wide range of printing methods that span the spectrum from low‐viscosity inkjet printing to high‐viscosity blade coating is demonstrated. The inks are prepared by liquid‐phase exfoliation with ethyl cellulose as the polymer dispersant and stabilizer. Thermal annealing of the printed structures volatilizes the polymer, resulting in a porous microstructure and the formation of a nanoscale carbonaceous coating on the hBN nanosheets, which promotes high wettability to battery electrolytes. The final result is a printed hBN nanosheet film that possesses high ionic conductivity, chemical and thermal stability, and electrically insulating character, which are ideal characteristics for printable battery components such as separators. Indeed, lithium‐ion battery cells based on printed hBN separators reveal enhanced electrochemical performance that exceeds commercial polymer separators. Ion‐conductive and viscosity‐tunable hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) inks are prepared by liquid‐phase exfoliation of hBN nanosheets using cellulosic polymers as dispersants and stabilizers. The hBN inks are compatible with inkjet printing and blade coating, resulting in hBN films with high ionic conductivity and thermal stability that outperform commercial polymer separators in lithium‐ion batteries.
ISSN:1616-301X
1616-3028
DOI:10.1002/adfm.201902245