Abstract

Atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is often regarded as an elastic film that is impermeable to gases. The high stabilities in thermal and chemical properties allow h-BN to serve as a gas barrier under extreme conditions. Here, we demonstrate the isolation of hydrogen in bubbles of h-BN via plasma treatment. Detailed characterizations reveal that the substrates do not show chemical change after treatment. The bubbles are found to withstand thermal treatment in air, even at 800 °C. Scanning transmission electron microscopy investigation shows that the h-BN multilayer has a unique aligned porous stacking nature, which is essential for the character of being transparent to atomic hydrogen but impermeable to hydrogen molecules. In addition, we successfully demonstrated the extraction of hydrogen gases from gaseous compounds or mixtures containing hydrogen element. The successful production of hydrogen bubbles on h-BN flakes has potential for further application in nano/micro-electromechanical systems and hydrogen storage.

Details

Title
Isolating hydrogen in hexagonal boron nitride bubbles by a plasma treatment
Author
He, Li 1 ; Wang, Huishan 2 ; Chen, Lingxiu 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Wang, Xiujun 2 ; Xie, Hong 3 ; Jiang, Chengxin 4 ; Chen, Li 5 ; Elibol, Kenan 6 ; Meyer, Jannik 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Watanabe, Kenji 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Taniguchi, Takashi 8 ; Wu, Zhangting 9 ; Wang, Wenhui 9 ; Ni, Zhenhua 9 ; Miao, Xiangshui 10 ; Zhang, Chi 10 ; Zhang, Daoli 10   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Wang, Haomin 11   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Xie, Xiaoming 4 

 School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Superconducting Electronics (CENSE), Shanghai, China 
 State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Superconducting Electronics (CENSE), Shanghai, China; Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 
 State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Superconducting Electronics (CENSE), Shanghai, China 
 State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Superconducting Electronics (CENSE), Shanghai, China; School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China 
 Department of Lithospheric Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Electron Microscopy for Materials Research (EMAT), University Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium 
 Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria; School of Chemistry, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland; Advanced Microscopy Laboratory, Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices, Dublin 2, Ireland 
 Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria; Institute for Applied Physics and Natural and Medical Sciences Institute, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany 
 National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan 
 Department of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing, China 
10  School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China 
11  State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Superconducting Electronics (CENSE), Shanghai, China; Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China 
Pages
1-9
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Jun 2019
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2248356206
Copyright
© 2019. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.