The effect of graphene+boron nitride/ZnO-based hybrid nanocomposites: synthesis, electrical, optical properties

In this study, nanocomposites ZnO-doped graphene+boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) were produced, and their electrical and optical properties were investigated. The graphene+BN nano-hybrid layer used as a reinforcement element was synthesized using a liquid-phase exfoliation method. TEM images support the nanosheet’s structure of the graphene and boron nitride. ZnO produced by sol-gel showed nanoscale spherical particles, while the commercial ZnO showed the micrometer scale with rod-like and hexagonal shapes. Composite materials were provided by reinforcing this reinforcement element into ZnO matrices, which were commercially available and were produced using the sol-gel procedure at different ratios. To compare the results, the BN nanosheets were synthesized using liquid-phase exfoliation. Using the same method, samples for comparison were produced by reinforcing these nano-hybrid sheets into the commercially available ZnO matrix and the sol-gel synthesized ZnO matrix. A limited increase was shown for the 0.1 wt% and 0.5 wt% in the nanocomposites’ electrical conductivity ratios, along with the rise of the graphene + BN nano-hybrid sheet. The E_g values of the as-produced nanocomposites first decreased and then increased as the reinforcement ratio increased. The bandgap changing for all reinforcing types exhibits similar characters. The studied materials can be used in wide-scale electronic and optoelectronic devices, environmental, biomedical, and catalytic/photocatalytic activities.