Structural Evolution of Boron Clusters on Ag(111) Surfaces – From Atomic Chains to Triangular Sheets with Hexagonal Holes

Unlike graphene and other 2D materials, borophene is 2D polymorphic with diverse hexagonal holes (HHs)-triangles ratios and the concentrations of HHs are highly substrate dependent. Here, we systematically explored the evolution of boron cluster on Ag(111) surface, B_N@Ag(111) (N=1∼36), to understand the nucleation of 2D boron sheet on metal surface. Our calculation showed that, with the size increasing, the structures of most stable B_N clusters undergo an evolution from compact triangular lattice, such as double-chains or triple-chains, to the ones with mixed triangular-hexagonal lattices. The first single-HH appears at N=12 and the first double-HH appears at N=27. The stability of large B_N clusters with mixed structures is derived from the charge transfer between triangular lattice and the HHs, as well as between the substrates and the B_N clusters. Our results provide a deep understanding on the formation of small boron clusters in the initial nucleation stage of borophene growth.     

硼烯化学合成进展与展望

硼烯是由硼原子构成的单原子层厚的二维材料,具有丰富的化学和物理性质。本文集中介绍近年来硼烯在合成方面的理论与实验研究进展,重点分析基底、生长温度、生长前驱物等因素对硼成核选择性的影响,探讨能够促进硼烯成核的潜在方法。进一步将分析硼烯生长机制及理论研究方法,以此展望通过在基底上化学气相沉积合成硼烯的可能途径。本文旨在促进大面积、高质量硼烯样品的制备以推动硼烯的实际应用。     

The Planar CoB18− Cluster as a Motif for Metallo‐Borophenes

Monolayer‐boron (borophene) has been predicted with various atomic arrangements consisting of a triangular boron lattice with hexagonal vacancies. Its viability was confirmed by the observation of a planar hexagonal B₃₆ cluster with a central six‐membered ring. Here we report a planar boron cluster doped with a transition‐metal atom in the boron network (CoB₁₈^?), suggesting the prospect of forming stable hetero‐borophenes. The CoB₁₈^? cluster was characterized by photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum chemistry calculations, showing that its most stable structure is planar with the Co atom as an integral part of a triangular boron lattice. Chemical bonding analyses show that the planar CoB₁₈^? is aromatic with ten π‐electrons and the Co atom has strong covalent interactions with the surrounding boron atoms. The current result suggests that transition metals can be doped into the planes of borophenes to create metallo‐borophenes, opening vast opportunities to design hetero‐borophenes with tunable chemical, magnetic, and optical properties.     

Ultrastable Crystalline Semiconducting Hydrogenated Borophene

Borophene sheets have been synthesized in recent experiments, but the metallic nature and structural instability of the sheets seriously prevent emerging applications. Hydrogenated borophene has been predicted as an ideal material for nanoelectronic applications due to its high stability as well as excellent electronic and mechanical properties. However, the fabrication of hydrogenated borophene is still a great challenge. Here, we demonstrate that hydrogenated borophenes in large quantities can be prepared without any metal substrates by a stepwise in‐situ thermal decomposition of sodium borohydride under hydrogen as the carrier gas. The borophenes with good crystallinity exhibit superior stability in strong acid or base solvents. The structure of the grown borophene is in good agreement with the predicted semiconducting α‐boron sheet. A fabricated borophene‐based memory device shows a high ON/OFF‐current ratio of 3×10³ and a low operating voltage of less than 0.35 V as well as good stability.     

Universal Scaling of Intrinsic Resistivity in Two‐Dimensional Metallic Borophene

Two‐dimensional boron sheets (borophenes) have been successfully synthesized in experiments and are expected to exhibit intriguing transport properties. A comprehensive first‐principles study is reported of the intrinsic electrical resistivity of emerging borophene structures. The resistivity is highly dependent on different polymorphs and electron densities of borophene. Interestingly, a universal behavior of the intrinsic resistivity is well‐described using the Bloch–Grüneisen model. In contrast to graphene and conventional metals, the intrinsic resistivity of borophenes can be easily tuned by adjusting carrier densities, while the Bloch–Grüneisen temperature is nearly fixed at 100 K. This work suggests that monolayer boron can serve as intriguing platform for realizing tunable two‐dimensional electronic devices.     

Electronic Structures of Polymorphic Layers of Borophane

The search for free-standing 2D materials has been one of the most important subjects in the field of studies on 2D materials and their applications. Recently, a free-standing monolayer of hydrogenated boron (HB) sheet has been synthesized by hydrogenation of borophene. The HB sheet is also called borophane, and its application is actively studied in many aspects. Here, we review recent studies on the electronic structures of polymorphic sheets of borophane. A hydrogenated boron sheet with a hexagonal boron frame was shown to have a semimetallic electronic structure by experimental and theoretical analyses. A tight-binding model that reproduces the electronic structure was given and it allows easy estimation of the properties of the material. Hydrogenated boron sheets with more complicated nonsymmorphic boron frames were also analyzed. Using the symmetry restrictions from the nonsymmorphic symmetry and the filling factor of hydrogenated boron sheets, the existence of a Dirac nodal line was suggested. These studies provide basic insights for research on and device applications of hydrogenated boron sheets.     

Density functional theory investigation on selective adsorption of VOCs on borophene

In the field of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pollution control, adsorption is one of the major control methods, and effective adsorbents are desired in this technology. In this work, the density functional theory (DFT) calculations are employed to investigate the adsorption of typical VOCs molecules on the two-dimensional material borophenes. The results demonstrate that both structure of χ₃ and β₁₂ borophene can chemically adsorb ethylene and formaldehyde with forming chemical bonds and releasing large energy. However, other VOCs, including ethane, methanol, formic acid, methyl chloride, benzene and toluene, are physically adsorbed with weak interaction. The analysis of density of states (DOS) reveals that the chemical adsorption changes the conductivity of borophenes, while the physical adsorption has no distinct effect on the conductivity. Therefore, both χ₃ and β₁₂ borophene are appropriate adsorbents for selective adsorption of ethylene and formaldehyde, and they also have potential in gas sensor applications due to the obvious conductivity change during the adsorption.     

Understanding the Central Location of a Hexagonal Hole in a B36 Cluster

The most stable form of a B₃₆ cluster has a central hexagonal hole. Such an interesting finding has led to the possible synthesis of a 2D boron sheet by employing the B₃₆ cluster as the building unit. Herein, a DFT study to investigate the reason for the central location of the hexagonal hole in the B₃₆ cluster is presented. The results show that the B₃₆ cluster with a central hexagonal hole is highly thermodynamically and kinetically stable. More importantly, such high stability is further understood through chemical bonding analysis.     

Epitaxial growth of borophene on substrates

Borophene, a two-dimensional (2D) planar boron sheet, has attracted dramatic attention for its unique physical properties that are theoretically predicted to be different from those of bulk boron, such as polymorphism, superconductivity, Dirac fermions, mechanical flexibility and anisotropic metallicity. Nevertheless, it has long been difficult to obtain borophene experimentally due to its susceptibility to oxidation and the strong covalent bonds in bulk forms. With the development of growth technology in ultra-high vacuum (UHV), borophene has been successfully synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) supported by substrates in recent years. Due to the intrinsic polymorphism of borophene, the choice of substrates in the synthesis of borophene is pivotal to the atomic structure of borophene. The different interactions and commensuration of borophene on various substrates can induce various allotropes of borophene with distinct atomic structures, which suggests a potential approach to explore and manipulate the structure of borophene and benefits the realization of novel physical and chemical properties in borophene due to the structure–property correspondence. In this review, we summarize the recent research progress in the synthesis of monolayer (ML) borophene on various substrates, including Ag(1 1 1), Ag(1 1 0), Ag(1 0 0), Cu(1 1 1), Cu(1 0 0), Au(1 1 1), Al(1 1 1) and Ir(1 1 1), in which the polymorphism of borophene is present. Moreover, we introduce the realization of bilayer (BL) borophene on Ag(1 1 1), Cu(1 1 1) and Ru(0 0 0 1) surfaces, which possess richer electronic properties, including better thermal stability and oxidation resistance. Then, the stabilization mechanism of polymorphic borophene on their substrates is discussed. In addition, experimental investigations on the unique physical properties of borophene are also introduced, including metallicity, topology, superconductivity, optical and mechanical properties. Finally, we present an outlook on the challenges and prospects for the synthesis and potential applications of borophene.     

Atomic-Scale Insights into the Interlayer Characteristics and Oxygen Reactivity of Bilayer Borophene

Bilayer (BL) two-dimensional boron (i.e., borophene) has recently been synthesized and computationally predicted to have promising physical properties for a variety of electronic and energy technologies. However, the fundamental chemical properties of BL borophene that form the foundation of practical applications remain unexplored. Here, we present atomic-level chemical characterization of BL borophene using ultrahigh vacuum tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (UHV-TERS). UHV-TERS identifies the vibrational fingerprint of BL borophene with angstrom-scale spatial resolution. The observed Raman spectra are directly correlated with the vibrations of interlayer boron–boron bonds, validating the three-dimensional lattice geometry of BL borophene. By virtue of the single-bond sensitivity of UHV-TERS to oxygen adatoms, we demonstrate the enhanced chemical stability of BL borophene compared to its monolayer counterpart by exposure to controlled oxidizing atmospheres in UHV. In addition to providing fundamental chemical insight into BL borophene, this work establishes UHV-TERS as a powerful tool to probe interlayer bonding and surface reactivity of low-dimensional materials at the atomic scale.     

New insights into the interaction of hydrogen atoms with boron-substituted carbon

Boron substitution in carbon materials has been comprehensively investigated using the density functional theory method. It was found that there is a correlation between the stability of the graphene sheet, the distribution of pi electrons, the electrostatic potential, and the capability for hydrogen-atom adsorption. Boron substitution destabilizes the graphene structure, increases the density of the electron wave around the substitutional boron atoms, and lowers the electrostatic potential, thus improving the hydrogen adsorption energy on carbon. However, this improvement is only ca. 10-20% instead of a factor of 4 or 5. Our calculations also show that two substitutional boron atoms provide consistent and reliable results, but one substitutional boron results in contradictory conclusions. This is a warning to other computational chemists who work on boron substitution that the conclusion from one substitutional boron might not be reliable.     

Electronic structures and bonding of graphyne sheet and its BN analog

Using density functional theory and generalized gradient approximation for exchange and correlation, we present theoretical analysis of the electronic structure of recently synthesized graphyne and its boron nitride analog (labeled as BN-yne). The former is composed of hexagonal carbon rings joined by C-chains, while the latter is composed of hexagonal BN rings joined by C-chains. We have explored the nature of bonding and energy band structure of these unique systems characterized by sp and sp(2) bonding. Both graphyne and BN-yne are found to be direct bandgap semiconductors. The bandgap can be modulated by changing the size of hexagonal ring and the length of carbon chain, providing more flexibilities of energy band engineering for device applications. The present study sheds theoretical insight on better understanding of the properties of the novel carbon-based 2D structures beyond the graphene sheet.     

Bandgap Engineering of Hydroxy-Functionalized Borophene for Superior Photo-Electrochemical Performance

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting boron nanosheets (few-layer borophene) have been theoretically predicted, but their band gap tunability has not been experimentally confirmed. In this study, hydroxy-functionalized borophene (borophene-OH) with tunable band gap was fabricated by liquid-phase exfoliation using 2-butanol solvent. Surface-energy matching between boron and 2-butanol produced smooth borophene, and the exposed unsaturated B sites generated by B−B bond breaking during exfoliation coordinated with OH groups to form semiconducting borophene-OH, enabling a tunable band gap of 0.65–2.10 eV by varying its thickness. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurements demonstrated that the use of borophene-OH to fabricate working electrodes for PEC-type photodetectors significantly enhanced the photocurrent density (5.0 μA cm⁻²) and photoresponsivity (58.5 μA W⁻¹) compared with other 2D monoelemental materials. Thus, borophene-OH is a promising semiconductor with great optoelectronic potential.     

The competition of double-, four-, and three-ring tubular B(3n) (n = 8-32) nanoclusters

The geometry and electronic properties of three-ring tubular B(3n) clusters (n = 8-32) are studied systematically with the density functional theory. It is composed of three staggered rings with the diameter of the middle ring larger than those of the two outer rings. With the increase in boron atom numbers, the three-ring tubular clusters are energetically more stable than the double-ring and four-ring tubular clusters and the buckled sheet clusters with hexagon holes. The average binding energy tends to the finite value. The stability is further analyzed through the natural bond orbital population analysis. The highest occupied and lowest unoccupied energy gaps become small, which demonstrates a favorable metallic property.     

工业用加氢脱氮催化剂所含MoS2的形貌

用透射电镜（ＴＥＭ）观察了Ａ，Ｂ两种工业用加氢脱氮（ＨＤＮ）催化剂所含活性相基础物ＭｏＳ２的形貌，并根据ＴＥＭ图像测量了ＭｏＳ２六角形晶体的对角线长度（Ｌ）和层数（Ｎ）．由此计算相应平均值工和Ｎ及晶体分布密度（Ｓ），并绘制了Ｌ的分布曲线．使用前，高活性Ａ催化剂的Ｌ值比Ｂ催化剂小，而Ｓ值则比其大．长期运转后，两种催化剂的Ｌ值都增大，Ｓ值都减小，但Ａ催化剂的变化明显小于Ｂ催化剂．由ＴＥＭ结果表明，ＭＯＳ２晶体的分散状态是影响Ｍｏ－Ｎｉ／Ａｌ２Ｏ３ＨＤＮ催化剂活性的因素之一．     

Enhancement of greenhouse gas adsorption on the new α-type reconstructed structure of two-dimensional borophene via biaxial strain engineering

The adsorption of CO, CO₂, and N₂O on a newly found α-type reconstructed form of borophene was investigated via density functional theory calculations. It is revealed that the new α-type reconstructed borophene structure consists of several large holes, and has the same order of stability as the predicted α₁-borophene in Wu et al. On the pristine reconstructed borophene case, CO and CO₂ adsorb moderately and weakly, respectively. Interestingly, N₂O spontaneously dissociated on the α-type reconstructed borophene. Upon the application of biaxial strain, especially at 10%, the adsorption of CO and CO₂ on the reconstructed borophene becomes significantly enhanced, and this is attributed to changes in the density of states near the Fermi level of the reconstructed borophene.     

Self-assembled monolayers of alkaneselenolates on (111) gold and silver

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed from didodecyl diselenide (C12SeSeC12) and didodecyl selenide (C12SeC12) on (111) Au and Ag substrates were extensively characterized by several complementary techniques. C12SeSeC12 was found to form contamination-free, densely packed, and well-ordered C12Se SAMs on both substrates, whereas the adsorption of C12SeC12 occurred only on Au and resulted in the formation of a SAM-like C12SeC12 film with a low packing density and a conformational disorder. The properties of the C12Se SAMs were compared with those of dodecanethiolate (C12S) SAMs. The packing density, orientational order, and molecular inclination in C12Se/Au and C12S/Au were found to be very similar. In contrast, C12Se/Ag exhibited significantly lower packing density, a lower degree of the conformational and orientational order, and a larger molecular inclination than C12S/Ag. The results suggest a sp3 bonding configuration for the selenium atom on Au and Ag and indicate a larger corrugation of the headgroup-substrate binding energy surface in C12Se/Ag than in C12S/Ag.     

Thermodynamic stability of novel boron sheet configurations

Thermodynamic stability together with the vibrational spectrum of several structural motifs of the pristine 2D boron sheet are investigated. The results suggest that the nature of the chemical bonding, rather than thermal effects, appears to be the prime factor in determining the stability of atomic monolayers of boron. The most stable configuration is predicted to be composed of a hybrid of triangular and hexagonal configuration. A boron sheet composed of either perfect triangular or perfect hexagonal motifs is unlikely to be synthesized. The distinctive features predicted in vibrational and thermodynamic properties for boron sheet configurations are expected to exhibit their signatures in the corresponding pristine nanotubes and crystalline bundles.     

A comparative study of hydroxide adsorption on the (111), (110), and (100) faces of silver with cyclic voltammetry, ex situ electron diffraction, and in situ second harmonic generation

Hydroxide adsorption on the (111), (110), and (100) faces of silver electrodes from mixed NaOH/NaF solution is studied using cyclic voltammetry and in situ second harmonic generation (SHG). Cyclic voltammograms for the three low index silver planes in alkaline electrolytes are for the first time compared. They show two pairs of anodic and cathodic peaks in the potential interval below the equilibrium Ag/Ag(2)O potential. These are attributed to the specific adsorption of hydroxide ions followed by submonolayer oxide formation. The differences in the cyclic voltammograms for the (111), (110), and (100) planes are attributed to different (i) work functions, (ii) surface atomic densities, and (iii) corrugation potentials for these surfaces. Ex situ low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) show that disordered adlayers are formed on Ag(111) and Ag(100), in contrast to Ag(110), where ordered structures are produced in the region of the first pair of current peaks. In the region of the second pair of peaks, LEED indicates disordered oxide phases on each crystal plane and RHEED shows the presence of small islands of c(2 x 2) structure at some potentials on (110) and (100). SHG measurements were performed (i) in the potential scan mode at constant rotational angle and (ii) at constant potential as a function of the rotational angle. The isotropic (for the (111), (110), and (100) planes) and anisotropic (for the (110) and (111) planes) contributions to the SHG intensity were calculated by fitting the experimental data and are discussed in terms of their dependence on the charge density at the interface, on hydroxide adsorption, and on submonolayer oxide formation.     

First-principles Study of Single Tin-phthalocyanine Molecule on Ag(111) Surface

Adsorption behavior and electronic structure of tin-phthalocyanine (SnPc) on Ag(111) sur-face with Sn-up and Sn-down conformations are investigated using first-principles calcula-tions. Two predicted adsorption configurations agree well with the experimentally deter-mined structures. SnPc molecule energetically prefers to adsorb on Ag(111) surface with Sn-down conformation. The energy required to move the central Sn atom through the frame of a phthalocyanine molecule, switching from the Sn-up to Sn-down conformation, is about 1.68 eV. The simulated scanning tunneling microscopy images reproduce the main features of experimental observations. Moreover, the experimentally proposed hole attachment mech-anism is verified based on the calculated density of states of SnPc on Ag(111) with three different adsorption configurations.