Reversible switching of surface texture by hydrogen intercalation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates reversible surface texture switching in hexagonal boron nitride on rhodium via hydrogen intercalation, with potential applications in hydrogen storage, layer peeling, and surface wetting control.

Contribution

It reveals that hydrogen intercalation can reversibly alter the surface corrugation of h-BN on rhodium, a novel control mechanism for surface texture.

Findings

Hydrogen intercalation removes h-BN surface corrugation.

Annealing expels hydrogen, restoring original surface texture.

The process is reversible and controllable.

Abstract

The interaction of atomic hydrogen with a single layer of hexagonal boron nitride on rhodium leads to a removal of the h-BN surface corrugation. The process is reversible as the hydrogen may be expelled by annealing to about 500 K whereupon the texture on the nanometer scale is restored. This effect is traced back to hydrogen intercalation. It is expected to have implications for applications, like the storage of hydrogen, the peeling of sp2-hybridized layers from solid substrates or the control of the wetting angle, to name a few.