Hexagonal boron nitride structures

Abstract

A microstructure comprises a plurality of interconnected units wherein the units are formed of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) tubes. The graphene tubes may be formed by photo-initiating the polymerization of a monomer in a pattern of interconnected units to form a polymer microlattice, removing unpolymerized monomer, coating the polymer microlattice with a metal, removing the polymer microlattice to leave a metal microlattice, depositing an h-BN precursor on the metal microlattice, converting the h-BN precursor to h-BN, and removing the metal microlattice.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A process for preparing a 2D h-BN microstructure comprising the steps of:
 photo-initiating the polymerization of a monomer in a pattern of interconnected units to form a polymer microlattice;   removing unpolymerized monomer;   coating the polymer microlattice with a metal;   removing the polymer microlattice to leave a metal microlattice;   depositing a 2D h-BN precursor on the metal microlattice;   converting the 2D h-BN precursor to 2D h-BN; and   removing the metal microlattice.   
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein photo-initiating the polymerization of the monomer includes passing collimated light through a photomask. 
     
     
         3 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein photo-initiating the polymerization of the monomer includes multi-photon lithography. 
     
     
         4 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein coating the polymer microlattice with a metal includes the electroless deposition of nickel. 
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer microlattice includes polystyrene. 
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer microlattice includes poly(methyl methacrylate). 
     
     
         7 . The process of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 removing unwanted particles by cleaning the microlattice with a series of chemicals prior to electroless plating.   
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 7 , wherein the microlattice is rinsed with water following the cleaning with each respective chemical of the series of chemicals. 
     
     
         9 . A 2D h-BN microstructure prepared by the process comprising the steps of:
 photo-initiating the polymerization of a monomer in a pattern of interconnected units to form a polymer microlattice;   removing unpolymerized monomer;   coating the polymer microlattice with a metal;   removing the polymer microlattice to leave a metal microlattice;   depositing a 2D h-BN precursor on the metal microlattice;   converting the 2D h-BN precursor to 2D h-BN; and   removing the metal microlattice.   
     
     
         10 . The 2D h-BN microstructure of  claim 9 , wherein photo-initiating the polymerization of the monomer includes passing collimated light through a photomask. 
     
     
         11 . The 2D h-BN microstructure of  claim 9 , wherein photo-initiating the polymerization of the monomer includes multi-photon lithography. 
     
     
         12 . The 2D h-BN microstructure of  claim 9 , wherein coating the polymer microlattice with a metal includes the electroless deposition of nickel. 
     
     
         13 . The 2D h-BN microstructure of  claim 9 , wherein the polymer microlattice includes polystyrene. 
     
     
         14 . The 2D h-BN microstructure of  claim 9 , wherein the polymer microlattice comprises poly(methyl methacrylate). 
     
     
         15 . The 2D h-BN microstructure of  claim 12 , wherein the process further includes removing unwanted particles by cleaning the microlattice with a series of chemicals prior to electroless plating. 
     
     
         16 . The 2D h-BN microstructure of  claim 15 , wherein the process further includes rinsing the microlattice with water following cleaning with each respective chemical of the series of chemicals.