Accelerated Synthesis of Borophane (HB) Sheets through HCl-Assisted Ion-Exchange Reaction with YCrB₄

Abstract

We present an enhanced method for synthesizing sheets of borophane. Despite the challenges associated with low efficiency, we discovered that incorporating hydrochloric acid into the ion-exchange reaction significantly improved the production yield from 20% to over 50%. After a thorough examination of the reaction, we gained insight into the underlying mechanisms and found that the use of hydrochloric acid provides two key benefits: accelerated production of borophene and isolation of high-purity products. This method has the potential to pave the way for the production of novel topological 2D materials with potential industrial applications.

Keywords

• two-dimensional material
• hydrogen boride (HB)
• borophane
• ion exchange
• infrared spectroscopy