Boron Nitride Nanosheets Functionalized with Fe3O4 and CoFe2O4 Magnetic Nanoparticles for Nanofiltration Applications

Nanofiltration (NF)is one of the emerging technologies that isvery promising for water purification among many other applications.2D boron nitride (BN) based nanomaterials are excellent building blocksfor NF membranes. In our work, BN nanosheets (BNNS) have been functionalizedwith magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to form BNNS-MNP nanocomposites.It was found that the nanocomposites are stable with the MNPs givingvery good coverage with both magnetite and cobalt ferrite MNPs andshowing good attachment and stability to sonication. These nanocompositeshave been tested for removal of methylene blue (MB) dye and MNPs fromwater. BNNS-magnetite nanocomposites showed higher removalefficiency of the MB from water than the corresponding pure BNNS,while the BNNS-cobalt ferrite removal efficiency was slightlyless than the pure BNNS. The BNNS-cobalt ferrite material wasregenerated by burning off the MB and recycled to show the recyclabilityof this material. The BNNS membranes were tested for filtration of14 & PLUSMN; 4 nm magnetite MNPs and were found to capture 100% of thenanoparticles with no MNPs left in the filtrate. Thus, we have developedmagnetic nanocomposite membranes, which have demonstrated great potentialfor water remediation. We believe that this research opens up promisingways for production of 2D nanocomposite materials with multiple applications.

Automated summary

Nanofiltration (NF) is a promising technology for water purification, and 2D boron nitride (BN) based nanomaterials have shown great potential as building blocks for NF membranes. In this study, BN nanosheets (BNNS) were functionalized with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to form stable BNNS-MNP nanocomposites. These nanocomposites demonstrated high removal efficiency of methylene blue (MB) dye from water, with the BNNS-magnetite nanocomposites showing higher efficiency than pure BNNS. The BNNS-cobalt ferrite material was successfully regenerated and recycled. Additionally, the BNNS membranes effectively captured magnetite nanoparticles with no MNPs left in the filtrate, indicating strong potential for water remediation.