The anomalous formation of 2D nanosheets of boron carbide, a non van der Waals layered material

What is it about?

Boron carbide is a well studied non van der Waals layered material which finds extensive application in reinforcement and thermoelectric materials. In this work, we determined the formation energies of 2D boron carbide nanosheets using ab-initio density functional theory, and we find these formation energies are surprisingly low. This explains the recent experimental synthesis of 2D boron carbide nanosheets cleaved along a variety of directions. We explain this stability by studying the rearrangement of the surface bonds of the nanosheets. We also determine the electronic structure and thermoelectric properties of the nanosheets.

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Photo by Silvio Kundt on Unsplash

Photo by Silvio Kundt on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Bulk boron carbide is a material that is heavily used in industry. The discovery of its 2D counterpart will greatly expand its potential applications as it will allow us to form layered composites of this material, resulting in materials which are incredibly strong, yet lightweight. Additionally, it extends our understanding of non van der Waals layered 2D materials and can be used to explain the stability of other 2D materials.