ABSTRACT

Allotropic 2D materials are the new frontier of materials science, due to their
unique strategic properties and application within several sciences. Allotropic
2D materials have shown tenable physical, chemical, biochemical, and optical
characteristics, and among the allotropic materials, graphene has been widely
investigated for its interesting properties, which are highly required in
biomedical applications. Recently, the synthesis of thin 2D boron sheets,
developed on Ag (111) substrates, was able to create a 2D triangular structure
called borophene (BO). Borophene has consistently shown anisotropic
behaviour similar to graphene. Borophene is a crystalline atomic monolayer
of boron, i.e., it is a two-dimensional allotrope of boron and also known
as boron sheet. First predicted by theory in the mid-1990s,[1] different
borophene structures were experimentally confirmed in 2015. "Borophene is
structurally similar to graphene, with a hexagonal network made of boron
(instead of carbon) atoms on each of the six vertices defining the hexagon,"
said Bozovic. "However, borophene is different in that it periodically has an
extra boron atom in the centre of the hexagon. “Borophene is a
promising anode material for Li, Na, and Mg ion batteries due to high
theoretical specific capacities, excellent electronic conductivity and
outstanding ion transport properties,” say Wang and co. The physicochemical
properties of borophene mainly contain the optical, electronic,
semiconducting, photoacoustic and photothermal, and metallic properties.
Finally, we summarized the application of borophene in many fields, such as Li-
S batteries, alkali metal ion batteries, and sensor and biomedical applications.

INTRODUCTION
The recent development of cutting-edge nanotechnologies has allowed
researchers to achieve significant steps forward in the study of new materials
that are applicable to medical biotechnologies. Recently, growing attention has
been paid to an interesting 2D material, graphene. After the discovery of this
smart and versatile material, scientific researchers have incorporated it into
nanomaterials and nanotechnologies with potential applications for innovative
devices and medical disposables.
Generally, 2D materials have remarkable physical properties that are
applicable to electronic devices, while recently they have found applications in
several new technologies in the field of photonics, energy conversion, and
nano-engineering. Recently, the synthesis of thin 2D boron sheets, developed
on Ag (111) substrates, has resulted in the creation of a 2D triangular structure
[3] called borophene (BO). Unlike other allotrope materials, borophene has
marked anisotropic properties; for instance, young’s modulus, measured along
the smoothest surface of a borophene sheet, is higher than graphene [4].
Some researchers working on the thermic conductivity of borophene have
shown that it can be explained because of its anisotropy; nevertheless,
compared to other similar materials, the thermal properties of borophene are
lower, due to the dispersive effect of its phonons. The Poisson’s ratio and the
thermal expansion coefficients are also low. On the other hand, the
anisotropic optical properties reported on borophene sheets are quite
interesting, as they hold high optical transparency.
Therefore, borophene certainly has peculiar properties, and can be
considered a 2D allotropic material, with several aspects that are applicable to
medical devices.

Borophene as a prototype for synthetic 2D

materials development
The synthesis of 2D materials with no analogous bulk layered allotropes
promises a substantial breadth of physical and chemical properties through the
diverse structural options afforded by substrate-dependent epitaxy. However,
despite the joint theoretical and experimental efforts to guide materials
discovery, successful demonstrations of synthetic 2D materials have been rare.
The recent synthesis of 2D boron polymorphs (that is, borophene) provides a
notable example of such success. In this Perspective, we discuss recent
progress and future opportunities for borophene research. Borophene
combines unique mechanical properties with anisotropic metallicity, which
complements the canon of conventional 2D materials. The multi-centre
characteristics of boron–boron bonding led to the formation of
configurationally varied, vacancy-mediated structural motifs, providing
unprecedented diversity in a mono-elemental 2D system with potential for
electronic applications, chemical functionalization, materials synthesis and
complex heterostructures. With its foundations in computationally guided
synthesis, borophene can serve as a prototype for ongoing efforts to discover
and exploit synthetic 2D materials.
fi
.

Borophene as an extremely high-capacity

electrode material for Li-ion and Na-ion
batteries

“Two-dimensional (2D) materials as electrodes” is believed to be the trend for

future Li-ion and Na-ion battery technologies. Here, by using first-principles
methods, we predict that the recently reported borophene (2D boron sheets)
can serve as an ideal electrode material with high electrochemical
performance for both Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. The calculations are
performed on two experimentally stable borophene structures, namely β 12 and
χ3 structures. The optimized Li and Na adsorption sites are identified, and the
host materials are found to maintain good electric conductivity before and
after adsorption. Besides advantages including small diffusion barriers and low
average open-circuit voltages, most remarkably, the storage capacity can be as
high as 1984 mA h g−1 in β12 borophene and 1240 mA h g−1 in χ3 borophene for
both Li and Na, which are several times higher than the commercial graphite
electrode and are the highest among all the 2D materials discovered to date.
Our results highly support that borophenes can be appealing anode materials
for both Li-ion and Na-ion batteries with extremely high-power density.
The rapid development of electronic products has inspired scientists to design
and explore novel electrode materials with an ultrahigh rate of
charging/discharging capability, such as two-dimensional (2-D) nanostructures
of graphene and MoS2. In this study, another 2-D nanosheet, that is a
borophene layer, has been predicted to be utilized as a promising anode
material for high-performance Li ion battery based on density functional
theory calculations. Our study has revealed that Li atom can combine strongly
with borophene surface strongly and easily, and exist as a pure Li+ state. A
rather small energy barrier (0.007 eV) of Li diffusion leads to an ultrahigh
diffusivity along an uncorrugated direction of borophene, which is estimated to
be 104 (105) times faster than that on MoS2 (graphene) at room temperature. A
high Li storage capacity of 1239 mA·h/g can be achieved when Li content
reaches 0.5. A low average operating voltage of 0.466 V and metallic
properties result in that the borophene can be used as a possible anode
material. Moreover, the properties of Li adsorption and diffusion on the
borophene affected by Ag (111) substrate have been studied. It has been
found that the influence of Ag (111) substrate is very weak. Li atom can still
bind on the borophene with a strong binding energy of −2.648 eV. A small
energy barrier of 0.033 eV can be retained for Li diffusion along the
uncorrelated direction, which can give rise to a high Li diffusivity. Besides, the
performances of borophene-based Na ion battery have been explored. Our
results suggest that an extremely high-rate capability could be expected in
borophene-based Li ion battery.
Metallic borophene polytypes as lightweight
anode materials for non-lithium-ion batteries
Applications of rechargeable non-lithium-ion batteries (Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and
Al3+ NLIBs) are significantly hampered by the deficiency of suitable electrode
materials. Searching for anode materials with desirable electrochemical
performance is urgent for the large-scale energy storage demands of next
generation renewable energy technologies. In this study, three types of
recently synthesized borophenes are predicted to serve as high-performing
anodes for NLIBs based on density functional theory. All the borophenes
considered here are metallic with favorable in-plane stiffness. Dirac fermions
were identified in two types of borophenes, guaranteeing their high electron
mobility. Moreover, borophene configuration-dependent metal-ion migration,
theoretical capacities, and open-circuit voltages were demonstrated with
respect to the different adsorption behaviours and atom mass densities of
anode materials. Our results provide insights into the configuration-0.
dependent electrode performance of borophene and the corresponding metal-
ion storage mechanism.

Properties of Borophene
The naïve 3D structure of boron makes it neither a metal nor a non-metal: it
can be considered a metalloid, commonly used in the production of
semiconductors. On the other hand, boron starts to show interesting metallic
properties when it holds a two-dimensional structure, similar to other
allotropic materials such as graphene. Nevertheless, borophene is made with a
different technique; in fact, it is obtained through the physical vapor
deposition (PVD) technique, which works by vaporizing boron on a thin film of
silver.

Borophene in Electronic Applications for

Medical Devices
The polymorphism showed by 2D boron is quite different from the other
2D materials; the substrate created on its surface plays a key role in the
structural stability of borophene. Borophene can have different energy spectra
depending on the type of metal substrate [19], and metals with different bases
of borophene β12 such as Ag, Cu, Au, and Ni can develop energies ranging from
0.4 to 2.1 meV, or from 15.1 to 28.9 meV. The above-reported behaviour
allows us to define the degree of polymorphism shown by borophene properly.
Due to the low mass of boron, a strong electron–phonon coupling can
amplify the superconductivity of phonons and their propagation. Moreover,
the hexagonal molecular geometry that characterizes the structure of
borophene and the different critical temperatures, ranging from 10 to over 20
K, are the parameters that make borophene a superconductor [20]. In fact,
superconducting transition temperatures have been found to be much higher
than theoretically predicted and experimentally observed in other similar
materials, such as graphene.
As previously stated, the different forms of borophene hold different
properties that allow their application in many different biomedical fields, and
the ability of borophene to act as an energy source in combination with other
materials is promising for the production of electronic biomedical devices
requiring a long-lasting charging, such as implantable or wearable devices. Of
course, this application needs to be improved, especially in the
charge/discharge processes, in regards to the safety of such high-capacity
charging, in terms of charge duration, and so on.
An important role could be played by borophene in the phase of 2-Pmmn.
In a recent study, 2-Pmmn borophene was considered to be a good anode for
Li-ion batteries because of the massive oxidative processes that this specific
material are able to promote; moreover, 2-Pmmn borophene ensures an
elevated conductivity that allows a charge/discharge process without any
energy dispersion [21]. Some modifications to 2-Pmmn borophene, such as
doping, hydrogenation, or stratifications, may affect the interactions among
borophene and other different materials; for example, a lower efficiency is
reached between Li and hydrogenated borophene. On the other hand, in Li-
Sulphide (Lis) batteries, the use of β12 and χ3 borophene impacts the levels of
energy stored. Specifically, the χ3 borophene adapts its structure to absorb
energy within Lis batteries, thus reducing the alteration of the structures
during the charge/discharge cycles. It is also worth noting that β12 borophene
within LiS batteries has shown overall structural stability, even if it seems to
ensure a lower adsorption of energy.
Excellent results have also been obtained in supercapacitors made with
several layers of borophene , even after more than 6000 discharge cycles. The
use of these multi-layered borophene-based supercapacitors is promising in
medical devices, with a special interest towards the rehabilitative robotics,
where the storage of energy is fundamental to ensure a correct functionality
over time. Furthermore, biomedical implantable devices (IMDs) often require
the use of an external charger, and borophene-based technologies can
significantly reduce charging time from hours to minutes, thus reducing the
limits of these technologies. The use of hybrid power, consisting of Lis and
β12 batteries, when applied to IMDs will ensure faster charge/discharge cycles;
furthermore, the supercapacitors will allow the storing of a higher quantity of
energy, which could be used as a strategic energy reserve, especially in devices
that need to last for long periods.

Borophene in Sensors for Medical

Devices
Borophene could be applied for the production of microelectronic sensors
and biosensors with high sensibility in signal transmission and detection.
Recent studies have investigated the crystalline structures that
characterize B36 borophene, as it can be highly interesting in translational
applications related to physics, chemistry, and other fields of microelectronics .
Specifically, the encouraging results obtained from B36 borophene in the
realization of new biosensors for gas detection have been the first step for
further studies promoted within the scientific community. Formaldehyde
(HCOH) is known to be highly toxic; however, it is commonly used in many
industrial and medical fields because of its high thermal stability and good
chemical reactivity. The potential use of B36 borophene as a HCOH biosensor
was evaluated by analysing its consolidated hexagonal hollow structure;
specifically, the energy absorption of different HCOH was evaluated by plotting
the profiles of LUMO (lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) B 36 borophene and
HOMO (highest occupied molecular orbital) B 36 borophene. In this context,
B36 borophene can reliably play the role of a high-conductivity semiconductor,
thus generating an electrical signal in the presence of HCOH. Borophene can
reliably play the role of a high-conductivity conductor, thus generating
electrical signals in the presence of samples to analyse.
Finally, the use of borophene for the improvement of 2D nanometric
devices has been recently reported [26], in which the hexagonal structure of
B36 borophene showed excellent properties, making it ideal for 2D
nanostructures to be integrated into biometric sensors.

Borophene in DNA Sequencing

In a recent study [27], DNA sequencing was performed by defining the
order of different bases (thymine (T), adenine (A), cytosine (C), and guanine
(G)) as a function of energy absorption and described in turn as a variation of
the electric conductivity within B36 borophene nano-wells. Density functional
theory (DFT) can explain the level of energy absorption shown by each
nitrogenous base observed within the hexagonal structures of the B 36 while
plotting the HOMO and LUMO profiles. It is well-known that each nitrogenous
base, when it comes into contact with B 36 borophene, has a different level of
energy absorption, with a different electrical conductivity reaction. These
variations can be translated with a specific electrical signal. The future
challenge is to produce electronic devices based on hybrid nanostructures
containing B36 borophene, which will be able to correctly define the DNA
sequences by transducing different specific electrical signals.

Borophene in Nanotechnologies
Researchers are looking for new applications for nanotechnologies by
creating hybrid nanomaterials that are able to ensure the highest physical,
chemical, and electronic properties.
In regards to physical properties, good flexibility in nanometric structures
is highly sought after in the biomedical field. In this context , δ 6 borophene is
considered highly suitable when presented on the thin wearable strips, as its
flexibility without any torsional stress can alter its molecular structure.
Furthermore, all borophene structures are perfectly functional in both strip
and tubular conformations, and this behavior allows the molecular, physical,
and mechanical characteristics to be maintained in both 2D and 3D
conformations. In nanotechnologies, borophene is often used in combination
with other metals such as Ag, Si, Cu, and Au, enhancing their properties
without negatively impacting on any biomedical applications.

Borophene in Radiology for Medical

Applications
The applicative principles of the electronic devices are based on one (or
more) sources that are able to generate electrical stimuli [24], and one
structure, biological or artificial, that is able to detect and amplify such stimuli,
mainly arising from tissues located in the human body. Modern microscopic
devices are directly implanted into the tissues or organs of patients, such as
pacemakers or the automatic defibrillators. Borophene could increase the
performances or prolong the lifecycles of biomedical devices, both in nano-
strips and integrated with other metals. One example of a ready-to-use device
is the portable radiograph . X-rays are produced via a complex process
requiring energy. X-ray intensity has been reported to be energy-dependent; in
portable disposables, low-intensity X-rays have been linked to the low-power
released by batteries. Under some clinical conditions, patients cannot be
moved to undergo a traditional X-ray procedure on a fixed radiograph;
therefore, portable X-ray machines are crucial in order to acquire diagnoses
and monitor up-to-date clinical conditions. In this light, portable devices,
including borophene-based supercapacitors with a battery as its power source,
could be a breakthrough in medical radiology. Moreover, given the ability of
borophene to serve as a supercapacitor, future portable devices will be able to
generate X-rays with a tenable power, according to the voltage set on the X-ray
tube.

Applications of Borophene
A wide range of applications harnessing the unique properties of borophene
are already emerging:
Flexible electronics: 2D materials may enable the development
of scaled-down hybrid electronic devices designed to harness their superior
qualities. Researchers believe that borophene’s unusual undulating structure
would confer high stretchability if the borophene was transferred to an
elastomeric substrate. In other words, it may be possible to fabricate devices
using borophene that can be deformed and then return to their original shape.
Since borophene is conductive, it may prove highly suitable for flexible
electronic devices. One of the key challenges facing researchers is that like
many 2D materials, borophene is highly sensitive to the external
environment, and to date, it has not shown long-term stability and reliability
when utilized in electronic devices. Researchers are currently developing new
imaging techniques to capture the motion of individual atoms in 2D materials
in order to understand the potential failure modes in electronic devices.

Battery electrodes: Lithium-ion batteries have become

ubiquitous in electronic devices due to their high power density and long cycle
life. In recent years, sodium-ion batteries have also become increasingly
common due to their low operating cost and high operating safety. The unique
morphology of 2D materials enables fast ion diffusion and makes them suitable
candidates for use as electrodes. Borophene is a highly promising electrode
material for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries due to its high storage
capacity resulting in extremely high-power density and electrochemical
performance. A recent study reported that the storage capacity of borophene
is the highest of all the 2D materials investigated to date.

Catalysis
2D materials show great promise for use as catalysts due to their unique
properties, including large surface areas and novel electronic states.
Borophene can be used as a catalyst in hydrogen evolution, oxygen reduction
and the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. The electrochemical
reduction of carbon dioxide, in particular, has enormous potential in
contributing towards efforts to address climate change. However, progress has
been slow as a consequence of the lack of stable and efficient catalysts.
Hydrogen storage: Hydrogen has the highest energy per mass of any fuel. In
recent years, research into hydrogen storage systems has become increasingly
prevalent, driven by demand for energy storage and the advancement of
hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Borophene has been shown to have
impressive hydrogen storage capacity, in part due to the low mass of the boron
atoms. The binding energy of molecular hydrogen to the boron sheet is
stronger than that to graphene.

Gas sensors: The gas adsorption properties of borophene render it

suitable in gas sensing applications for different gases including ethanol,
carbon monoxide, phosgene and formaldehyde. 2D materials have
demonstrated significant potential for the development of gas sensors due to
their unique electronic structures and large surface-area-to-volume ratios.
CONCLUSION

The development of 2D materials is one of the most exciting frontiers in

materials research today. The computationally guided synthesis of borophene,
just over a decade after the synthesis of graphene, can be considered as a
blueprint for the development of new 2D materials. Significant technical
challenges remain in the development of borophene, for example, scaling up
manufacturing processes, however its unprecedented and unique qualities are
likely to reveal new horizons in flexible electronics, battery, and sensor
technology. Borophene is a promising biomaterial. It can be considered “the
chameleon” of biomedical materials, as it can behave in different ways and
exist in different phases, showing different chemical and physical
characteristics that are heterogeneously applicable to medical devices and
personalized biomedicine. Growing scientific evidence has pointed out that
borophene has many overlapping attributes with graphene; their mechanical
and chemical characteristics are so similar to be easily comparable, even at a
nanometric scale. The similarities with graphene, together with the numerous
properties and potential applications previously reported, make borophene a
promising 2D allotropic material for biomedical devices