Environmental Applications of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Nanomaterials: Structure, Properties, and Future Perspectives

Abstract Hexagonal boron nitride (H‐BN)‐based nanomaterials have attracted much attention in the fields of environmental remediation and sustainable technologies due to their high specific surface area (SSA), excellent thermal stability, chemical inertness and biocompatibility and other physical, chemical and biological properties. This paper reviews the structures, properties, and synthesis methods of h‐BN and its diverse applications in the environmental fields, including adsorption, photocatalysis, oil–water separation, seawater desalination, wastewater treatment, antibacterial application, environmental sensing, and energy conversion and storage. Among these applications, h‐BN shows good recyclability. However, the wide bandgap of h‐BN (≈5.9 eV) leads to its poor electrical conductivity, limiting its performance in electronic devices. To address this key limitation, current research mainly focuses on strategies such as element doping, functionalization, and composite modification with conductive materials (such as graphene, metals) to expand their applications in the fields of energy, catalysis, and sensing.