A novel temperature dependent method for borophene synthesis

Abstract

In energy, sensor, and biomedical applications, borophene is considered as an emerging and promising material. However, since bulk boron exhibits rather intricate spatial structures and multiple chemical properties, the synthesis of borophene is yet to be considered as a challenging issue. A large amount of theoretical work has been conducted to characterize the properties of borophene incorporating the possible experimental methods. Unfortunately, synthesis of borophene and their properties in experimentation do not comply the theoretical expectations within the desired level. There are some methods that have been used to synthesize borophene but these techniques also have some limitations such as complexity and expensive. Due to this reason, the seeking of new methods continues even now a day. In this research, a novel method has been proposed. This method is nearly similar to the electrochemical exfoliation process of graphene production. Nevertheless, graphite is conductive at ambient temperature, whereas boron is almost insulating at low temperature. Therefore, a new design is explored with the boron attached heating coil so that it can act as a conductive material with increasing temperature and confirmed the synthesis of borophene from boron by electrochemical exfoliation process. The quality and crystallographic structure of anisotropic borophene with the change of temperature will also be followed by this method. Apart from the pure boron rod, the sintering process is utilized under different aspects to develop the boron structure under optimum conditions. The crystallographic structure of boron can be changed by the sintering process under different operating and processing parameters. The synthesis of borophene from various crystallographic structures of boron will provide the new insight of borophene for its use in large scales. This new method of borophene synthesis is practically conducted at a limited level, still needs more analysis by using advanced characterization techniques. The Raman spectrum of fabricated borophene is evaluated and stability of this borophene is tested by using zeta potential. This method can be considered as a most promising and potential method in comparison with the other available techniques.