Fused borophenes: a new family of superhard materials

TL;DR

This paper introduces fused borophenes, a new family of superhard 3D boron-based materials with hardness comparable to commercial borides, identified via high-throughput computational screening and potentially synthesizable through high-temperature or high-pressure methods.

Contribution

It presents a novel class of superhard materials called fused borophenes, expanding the family of boron-based superhard compounds with promising synthesis routes.

Findings

Fused borophenes exhibit Vicker's hardness comparable to commercial metal borides.

They are identified through high-throughput computational screening.

Potential synthesis methods include high-temperature processing and quenching of high-pressure phases.

Abstract

The search of new superhard materials has received a strong impulse by industrial demands for low-cost alternatives to diamond and $c$-BN, such as metal borides. In this Letter we introduce a new family of superhard materials, "fused borophenes", containing 2D boron layers which are interlinked to form a 3D network. These materials, identified through a high-throughput scan of BxC1-x structures, exhibit Vicker's hardnesses comparable to those of the best commercial metal borides. Due to their low formation enthalpies, fused borophenes could be synthesized by high-temperature methods, starting from appropriate precursors, or through quenching of high-pressure phases.