In situ growth of metal nanoparticles on boron nitride nanosheets as highly efficient catalysts

We report a facile and general approach for the synthesis of boron nitride nanosheet (BNNS)-metal nanoparticle (NP) composites at room temperature without adding any reducing agent. BNNS was exfoliated in hydroxide aqueous media using tip-sonication. The resulting BNNS possessed abundant hydroxyl groups which reduced the gold salt and enabled the in situ growth of uniform Au NPs on BNNS (average diameter of 17 nm). The as-synthesised BNNS-Au NP composite exhibited outstanding catalytic and electrocatalytic activities which were confirmed by its excellent performance in the chemical degradation of Rhodamine B and electrocatalytic oxidation of hydrazine, respectively. This method was also demonstrated to be a general approach for the preparation of other BNNS-metal NP composites by the in situ growth of Ag, Pd and Pt NPs on BNNS.