Digital Journal readers will be familiar with graphene. Graphene is an ultra- thin material (one atom thick) and it is highly conducive at conducting electricity. The material is strong and also very flexible. The material has been used for coating power plants, to making flexible computing screens and filtering out contaminants from water.
Boron nitride has been dubbed “white graphene” by some researchers because it shares similar properties, although it isn’t “graphene” because it is not carbon-based. The material is made up of equal numbers of boron and nitrogen atoms. The compound has excellent thermal and chemical stability. The material is a very good conductor of heat.
Conducting of heat is expressed as “phonons.” A phonon is a type of quasi-particle, with the term phonon applied to the excitation of atoms in condensed matter. Phonons affect thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity.
Researchers based at Rice University have used these principles to develop a theoretical model to show how a three-dimensional lattice of boron nitride could be deployed as a tunable material to control heat flow in electronic devices.
By being three-dimensional boron nitride can conduct heat in any direction. With most circuits, heat moves in one direction. The multiple heat directing properties of boron nitride provide greater opportunities to “cool” down electronic devices. This can be controlled further by building pillars of boron nitride of differing shapes and thickness.
Based on the theoretical properties, research will begin on developing practical models to test out the properties as part of the development of next generation electronics.
The research has been published in the journal Applied Materials and Interfaces. The paper is titled “Dimensional Crossover of Thermal Transport in Hybrid Boron Nitride Nanostructures.”