New hexagonal 2D material may rival graphene

Researchers from the University of Kentucky working in collaboration with scientists from Daimler in Germany and the Institute for Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) in Greece have reported a new (theoretical) 2D material that could potentially rival graphene as the material of the future. The new material is made up of silicon, boron and nitrogen — all light, inexpensive and abundant elements — and is extremely stable, a property many other graphene alternatives lack.

While there are many ways to combine silicon, boron and nitrogen to form planar structures, only one specific arrangement of these elements resulted in a stable structure. The atoms in the new structure are arranged in a hexagonal pattern, as in graphene. The three elements forming the material all have different sizes; the bonds connecting the atoms are also different. As a result, the sides of the hexagons formed by these atoms are unequal, unlike in graphene.