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In the last decade, few-layer boron nitride nanosheets and monolayer BN nanosheet (BNNS) have gained much attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties. To date, BNNS can be produced by micromechanical cleavage of BN crystal, unzipping BN nanotubes, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and solution processed exfoliation from bulk BN powder. Due to the low cost and abundance of bulk BN powder and its simple processing for potentially scalable production, great efforts have been devoted toward solution processed exfoliation. In this feature article, recent significant advances in solution processed synthesis of BNNS are summarized. In particular, the solvent choice for one-step BN exfoliation is highlighted. Multi-dimensional assemblies consisting of BNNS are discussed, such as BN fiber, BN paper, and BN aerogel. The emerging applications of BNNS in different fields are then focused on, especially in barrier materials, dielectrics, catalysts, and thermal management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composites of boron nitride (BN) and carboxylated graphene are prepared for the first time using covalent cross-linking employing the carbodiimide reaction. The BN1- xG x ( x ≈ 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75) obtained are characterized using a variety of spectroscopic techniques and thermogravimetric analysis. The composites show composition-dependent electrical resistivity, the resistivity decreasing with increase in graphene content. The composites exhibit microporosity and the x ≈ 0.75 composite especially exhibits satisfactory performance with high stability as an electrode in supercapacitors. The x ≈ 0.75 composite is also found to be a good electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

K. P. Loh and co‐workers develop a method to synthesize wafer scale, high‐quality, fewlayer, hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) films. On page 731, they use a remotely discharged plasma beam source in high vacuum. Lithographic patterning of layer‐by‐layer stacked h‐BN and graphene films enables the fabrication of a (h‐BN‐G)n disk array, which can exhibit tunable plasmonic resonances in the infrared region depending on the height of the disk. Plasmonic resonance upshifts of up to 240 cm−1 are demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]