Review of borophene and its potential applications

TL;DR

This review summarizes recent advances in borophene, highlighting its unique properties and diverse potential applications in energy storage, catalysis, and sensors, while discussing current challenges and future outlooks.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of borophene's synthesis, properties, and potential uses, emphasizing recent experimental and theoretical progress.

Findings

Borophene exhibits unique mechanical, thermal, and electronic properties.

Potential applications include batteries, hydrogen storage, and catalysis.

Current challenges involve synthesis scalability and stability.

Abstract

Since two-dimensional boron sheet (borophene) synthesized on Ag substrates in 2015, research on borophene has grown fast in the fields of condensed matter physics, chemistry, material science, and nanotechnology. Due to the unique physical and chemical properties, borophene has various potential applications. In this review, we summarize the progress on borophene with a particular emphasis on the recent advances. First, we introduce the phases of borophene by experimental synthesis and theoretical predictions. Then, the physical and chemical properties, such as mechanical, thermal, electronic, optical and superconducting properties are summarized. We also discuss in detail the utilization of the borophene for wide ranges of potential application among the alkali metal ion batteries, Li-S batteries, hydrogen storage, supercapacitor, sensor and catalytic in hydrogen evolution, oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, and CO2 electroreduction reaction. Finally, the challenges and outlooks in this promising field are featured on the basis of its current development.