Two-Dimensional Binary Superlattice of BNNT-Surfactant Vesicle Complex Induced by Electrostatic Interaction

Sang-Woo Jeon; Changwoo Do; Se Youn Moon; Tae-Hwan Kim

doi:10.1021/acscentsci.5c00548

Two-Dimensional Binary Superlattice of BNNT-Surfactant Vesicle Complex Induced by Electrostatic Interaction

ACS Cent Sci. 2025 May 22;11(6):950-959. doi: 10.1021/acscentsci.5c00548. eCollection 2025 Jun 25.

Authors

Sang-Woo Jeon^{1

2}, Changwoo Do³, Se Youn Moon^{1

4

5

6}, Tae-Hwan Kim^{1

4

5

6

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Plasma & Quantum Beam Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea.
² Neutron Science Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon 34057, Republic of Korea.
³ Biology and Soft Matter Division, Neutron Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States.
⁴ Research Center for Advanced Nuclear Interdisciplinary Technology, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Quantum System Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea.
⁶ High-Enthalphy Plasma Research Center, Jeonbuk National University, Wanju-gun 55317, Republic of Korea.
⁷ Department of Electronic Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea.
⁸ Department of JBNU-KIST Convergence, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

For a wide range of practical applications of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs), it is essential to achieve their highly ordered self-assembled structures. This study reports on a two-dimensional (2D) binary superlattice of individually exfoliated BNNTs with a negative surface charge (p-BNNT25) and cationic surfactant vesicles (CTAT/SDBS vesicles, prepared by mixing cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate (CTAT) and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS)) complexes through electrostatic interactions. Depending on the surface charge density of the CTAT/SDBS vesicles and the mass ratio between the CTAT/SDBS vesicle and p-BNNT25, the CTAT/SDBS-BNNT complexes formed highly ordered superstructures. These structures include an intercalated lamellar phase with a centered rectangular structure (ICLP), in which a 2D array of p-BNNT25 is inserted into the multilamellar structure, and an AB₃ structure, in which the BNNTs are surrounded by surfactant micelles in a triangular arrangement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the fabrication of highly ordered superstructures of individually exfoliated and negatively charged BNNTs with positively charged surfactant vesicles through electrostatic interactions. This approach for the 2D binary superlattices of CTAT/SDBS-BNNT complexes induced by electrostatic interactions is expected to be beneficial for a wide range of one-dimensional (1D) nanoparticle applications.