The Rise of Borophene

The Rise of Borophene

Abstract

Borophene stands out uniquely among Xenes with its metallic character, Dirac nature, exceptional electron mobility, thermal conductivity, and Young’s moduli—surpassing graphene. Invented in 2015, various methods, including atomic layer deposition, molecular beam epitaxy, and chemical vapor deposition, have successfully been demonstrated to realize substrate-supported crystal growth. Top-down approaches like micromechanical, sonochemical, solvothermal and modified hummer’s techniques have also been employed. Thanks to its high electronic mobility, borophene serves as an active material for ultrafast sensing of light, gases, molecules, and strain. Its metallic behaviour, electrochemical activity, and anti-corrosive nature make it ideal for applications in energy storage and catalysis. It has been proven effective as an electrocatalyst for HER, OER, water splitting, CO2 reduction, and NH3 reduction reactions. Beyond this, borophene has found utility in bioimaging, biosensing, and various biomedical applications. A special emphasis will be given on the borophene nanoarchitectonics i.e. doped borophene and borophene-based hybrids with other 2D materials and nanoparticles and the theoretical understanding of these emerging materials systems to gain more insights on their electronic structure and properties, aiming to manipulate borophene for tailored applications.

Summary for Non-Scientists

Researchers are delving into borophene, a highly promising material among the Xenes family, which includes graphene. Borophene was first created in 2015 and boasts remarkable properties, such as high electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and mechanical strength, outperforming even graphene in some areas.

Here's a simplified summary:

  • They use various advanced methods to grow borophene crystals on substrates. These methods include atomic layer deposition, molecular beam epitaxy, and chemical vapor deposition, among others.
  • Borophene's high electronic mobility makes it an excellent material for fast detection of light, gases, molecules, and strain.
  • Its metallic behavior, electrochemical activity, and resistance to corrosion make it ideal for energy storage and catalytic applications.
  • It has shown great potential as an electrocatalyst for several important reactions, such as hydrogen evolution (HER), oxygen evolution (OER), water splitting, carbon dioxide reduction, and ammonia reduction.
  • Borophene is also useful in bioimaging, biosensing, and various biomedical applications.

The focus is on creating doped borophene and hybrids with other 2D materials to better understand and enhance its properties for specific applications.

Source :
Progress in Materials Science
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