Borophene
BAlso called 2D boron, borophane (hydrogenated)
Boron cannot form a simple honeycomb, so a single layer of boron arranges itself into triangles with a pattern of holes – and changing that pattern changes the material. It is metallic, extremely light, and predicted to be very stiff and superconducting. For now it exists only on silver or copper surfaces in ultra-high vacuum.
Key properties
- Metallic, with strongly anisotropic electronic and mechanical properties in striped phases
- Predicted in-plane stiffness of ~400 N/m along one direction for the buckled phase (DFT), comparable to graphene
- Predicted phonon-mediated superconductivity with Tc of roughly 10–20 K for β12 and χ3 – not yet observed
- Polymorphic: several phases coexist on Ag(111), selected by growth temperature and deposition rate
How it is made
- MBE of elemental boron on Ag(111) at roughly 450–700 °C in ultra-high vacuum
- Growth on Cu(111), Au(111), Al(111) and Ir(111), each favouring different phases
- Hydrogenation to borophane, which improves air stability
Uses, and how close they are
- Ultralight conductors and interconnect researchlab
- Hydrogen storage and electrocatalysis (theory-led)lab
Readiness runs lab → prototype → pilot → deployed.
Open problems
- Which polymorph is preferred on weakly interacting substrates, and can a free-standing phase be stabilised?
- Does the predicted superconductivity appear once substrate charge transfer is controlled?
- Can borophene be transferred intact from its growth metal?
Going deeper
Short notes for specialists. Choose a lens in the header and yours comes first.
Boron’s electron deficiency makes the phase space large: structure searches over vacancy patterns (cluster expansion, particle-swarm or evolutionary methods) are required, and charge transfer from the substrate changes the energetic ordering. Electron–phonon calculations predict superconductivity; anisotropic mechanics and transport need direction-resolved treatment.
Phase identification relies on atomically resolved STM and LEED supported by simulated images; ARPES on Ag(111) must disentangle substrate bands. Deposition rate and substrate temperature select the phase, so report both.
Currently a surface-science material with no transfer route. Interconnect and flexible-conductor applications remain speculative until air-stable, transferable films exist.
In the research tracks
Growth methods
Recent news
The newest items tagged Borophene, from the news feed updated 5 Oct 2026.
Record-Breaking Elemental Superconductivity in Tetralayer Kagome Borophene
Superconductivity above the liquid-nitrogen temperature remains rare in two-dimensional elemental crystals, where strong covalent bonding often yields high phonon frequencies but insufficient electron-phonon coupling. Here, using first-principles calculations and fully anisotropic Migdal-Eliashberg theory, we predict…
Anisotropic tunneling through magnetic barriers in 8-Pmmn borophene
We present a theoretical study of electron tunneling through a magnetic barrier in 8-Pmmn borophene, created by depositing two ferromagnetic strips on the borophene sheet. Using a low-energy effective Hamiltonian that captures the anisotropic Dirac spectrum, we solve the Dirac equation in three regions and impose…
All 11 items tagged Borophene in the news feed · RSS feed for Borophene
Key references
- Synthesis of borophenes: anisotropic, two-dimensional boron polymorphscited by 2,770doi:10.1126/science.aad1080
- Experimental realization of two-dimensional boron sheetscited by 1,913doi:10.1038/nchem.2491
- Synthesis of borophane polymorphs through hydrogenation of borophenecited by 231doi:10.1126/science.abg1874