Amino Functionalization of Boron Nitride: Structural, Surface, and Colloidal Characterization

Boron nitride (BN) has some advantageous characteristics such as good dispersion stability, low specific density, resilience to high temperatures, resistance to oxidation. Functionalized BN retains its crystalline structure, thermal and mechanical properties. Functionalized BN also shows some extra advantageous characteristics like more dispersion stability, surface reactivity, and biocompatibility due to the introduction of active functional groups. This study aimed to functionalize and characterize BN. BN was functionalized with amino groups using diazonium salt. The functionalized BN was characterized by FTIR, XRD, DLS and Zeta potential. FTIR ensured the formation of functionalized BN. XRD analysis ensured hexagonal structure with the crystal size 28.95 nm for BN and 31.33 nm for functionalized BN. DLS analysis showed the average particle size of 606 nm and 697 nm for BN and functionalized BN respectively. Zeta potential was measured -26.8 mV for BN and 25.3 mV for functionalized BN.