Large area hexagonal boron nitride monolayer as efficient atomically thick insulating coating against friction and oxidation

• Published in: Nanotechnology Vol. 25; no. 10; pp. 105701 - 5
• Main Authors: Li, Xuemei, Yin, Jun, Zhou, Jianxin, Guo, Wanlin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 14.03.2014; Institute of Physics
• Subjects: Boron nitride; Coating; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Electron, ion, and scanning probe microscopy; Exact sciences and technology; Friction; hexagonal boron nitride monolayer; Insulation; Mechanical and acoustical properties of condensed matter; Mechanical properties of nanoscale materials; Monolayers; Nanotechnology; Oxidation; oxidation resistance; Physics; Scanning probe microscopy: scanning tunneling, atomic force, scanning optical, magnetic force, etc; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Surface properties; Thermal properties of condensed matter; Thermal properties of small particles, nanocrystals, nanotubes; Atomic force microscopy; Thick coatings; Chemical stability; Thermal stability; Thin films; Thermal properties; Hexagonal crystals; Insulating coatings; Friction; Monolayers; Surface properties; Oxidation; Nanotechnology; Tribology
• ISSN: 0957-4484; 1361-6528; 1361-6528
• DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/25/10/105701

Coating is the most widely applied technology to improve surface properties of substrates, and nanotechnology has been playing an important role in enhancing the coating performance. However, the tunability of surface properties by a single atomic layer remains poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that a chemical vapor deposited hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer of large area and high quality can serve as a perfect coating to significantly improve friction, oxidation and electric resistance of the substrates. The exceptional low friction and insulation of h-BN monolayer coating facilitate the characterization of the h-BN film vividly by atomic force microscopy, showing the h-BN monolayer consists of domains with size within a few micrometers. This excellent coating performance together with the exceptional high thermal and chemical stability make the h-BN monolayer a promising coating material.