Generating electric current based on the solvent-dependent charging effects of defective boron nitride nanosheets

This work presents a method of generating electric current based on the defects of few-layer boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs). The density functional theory calculations showed that the atomic charge of the B atom in acetone was more positive than in water. The electrostatic force microscopy measurements illustrated that the local electrical potential was 0.35 mV in acetone, while the potential signal was very difficult to capture when using water as the dispersant. This effect was further demonstrated by the performance of the acoustic energy-harvesting nanogenerator: the BNNSs were assembled into a film after being dispersed in acetone and then integrated into the generator device, generating average output current of ∼0.98 nA, which was much better than 0.2 nA, the average output current of another device with water as the dispersant. These results demonstrated that solvent effects made the as-prepared BNNSs carry net charges, which could be utilized to harvest acoustic energy and generate current.