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Borophene scientists create atomically thin boron
Borophene is a proposed crystalline allotrope of boron. One unit consists of 36 atoms arranged in an 2-dimensional sheet with a hexagonal hole in the middle. Another form made in 2015 is a buckled two dimensional sheet on silver.
Contents
- Borophene scientists create atomically thin boron
- Borophene joins 2d materials club scientists create atomically thin metallic boron borophene
- Theory
- History
- Borospherene
- References
![Borophene New boron nanomaterial may be possible News from Brown](https://alchetron.com/cdn/borophene-4a1590e9-8a91-4a02-86bb-925ff22eef7-resize-750.jpg)
Borophene joins 2d materials club scientists create atomically thin metallic boron borophene
Theory
![Borophene Long may you wave](https://alchetron.com/cdn/borophene-0cca1e96-7e9d-4d00-8139-6308add752d-resize-750.jpeg)
Computational studies suggested that extended borophene sheets with partially filled hexagonal holes are stable. Global minimum searches for B−
36 lead to a quasiplanar structure with a central hexagonal hole. Borophene is predicted to be fully metallic.
![Borophene httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu](https://alchetron.com/cdn/borophene-4c1197dc-91f1-417e-9379-7477b4ef270-resize-750.jpg)
Borophene is analogous to graphene in that it is expected to form extended sheets. The latter is a semi-metal, implying that borophene may be a better conductor. The boron-boron bond is also nearly as strong as graphene’s carbon-carbon bond. At the atomic-cluster scale, pure boron forms simple planar molecules and cage-like fullerenes.
![Borophene Borophene This New 2Dimensional Material May Be Stronger Than](https://alchetron.com/cdn/borophene-b078f260-e2da-4072-8634-b3d12e54546-resize-750.jpg)
Boron is adjacent to carbon in the periodic table and has similar valence orbitals. Unlike carbon, boron cannot form a honeycomb hexagonal framework (like graphene) because of its electron deficiency.
History
![Borophene Borophene joins 2D materials club Scientists Create Atomically Thin](https://alchetron.com/cdn/borophene-98adf464-a1f9-4621-945d-9141f302a7c-resize-750.jpeg)
In 2014 a research team at Brown University, led by Lai-Sheng Wang, showed that the structure of B
36 was not only possible but highly stable. Photoelectron spectroscopy revealed a relatively simple spectrum, suggesting a symmetric cluster. Neutral B
36 is the smallest boron cluster to have sixfold symmetry and a perfect hexagonal vacancy, and it can be viewed as a potential basis for extended two-dimensional boron sheets.
![Borophene Borophene Scientists create atomically thin boron](https://alchetron.com/cdn/borophene-e99302b1-3f65-4b57-a5da-b466efde49d-resize-750.jpg)
In 2015 a research team synthesized borophene on silver surfaces under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. Atomic-scale characterization, supported by theoretical calculations, revealed structures reminiscent of fused boron clusters with multiple scales of anisotropic, out-of-plane buckling. Unlike bulk boron allotropes, borophene shows metallic characteristics that are consistent with predictions of a highly anisotropic, 2D metal.
Borospherene
In July 2014 researchers announced the creation of a 40-atom buckyball-like spherical cage made of boron that the team dubbed borospherene (derived from the original "buckminster fullerene".) Where buckyball molecules feature 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons of carbon atoms producing a smooth spherical surface, borospherene consists of 48 triangles, four seven-sided rings and two six-sided rings. The resulting shape is also spherical, but with several atoms sticking out from the sides.