Understanding water behaviour on 2D material interfaces through single-molecule motion on h-BN and graphene.

ABSTRACT: Understanding water behaviour on 2D materials is crucial for applications in sensing, microfluidics, and tribology. While graphene-water interactions are well studied, water on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) remains largely unexplored. Despite its structural similarity to graphene, h-BN possesses polar B-N bonds that give rise to distinct electronic and chemical properties. Most previous studies have also focused on multilayer water, leaving single-molecule dynamics poorly understood. Here we show how individual water molecules diffuse on h-BN compared to graphene using helium spin-echo spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. On h-BN/Ni, water exhibits coupled rotational-translational motion, in contrast to the discrete hopping observed on graphene. Water molecules rotate freely around th

SUBMITTER: Seiler P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12647898 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature