Image by Katarzyna Ludwiczak
What are the environmental applications of epitaxial hexagonal boron nitride? Lately, we observed that hBN bubbles are formed upon electron beam irradiation. Such a structure can effectively store molecular hydrogen for weeks and is resistant to even extreme mechanical deformation. Hydrogen generation is triggered by the radiolysis of interfacial water. We believe that hBN can be applied in innovative hydrogen generation and storage schemes and help in the development of future green energy systems. For more details, take a look at our recent work: Epitaxial Hexagonal Boron Nitride for Hydrogen Generation by Radiolysis of Interfacial Water that was published in Nano Letters (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c04434)