MBene 2D Transition Metal Borides

Due to their many forms, distinctive electronic structures, and desirable physicochemical features, ternary layered transition metal nitrides/carbides/carbon nitrides and their related two-dimensional (2D) MXenes have recently demonstrated considerable potential in applications. 2D MBenes is a new branch of MXenes, a novel two-dimensional material system, which is the latest derivative of ternary or quaternary transition metal boride (MAB) phases.

They exhibit rich chemical characteristics, great reactivity, mechanical strength/stability, and electrical conductivity, as shown by theoretical calculations and early experimental attempts. Due to its many crystal configurations, polycrystalline forms, and structural transitions, MBenes appear to have a more complicated structure than MXenes. This makes it difficult to synthesize them and then delaminate them into monoliths. By removing this obstacle, the material-structure-property connection of MBenes may be rationally controlled. The development of new multifunctional systems and devices will be possible because of advancements in MBenes post-processing techniques, providing a potential paradigm for the deliberate design of high-performance 2D.

MBene Synthesis

Attempts have been made to synthesize 2D MBene, i.e., In from layered Ti₂InB₂ and Al from MoAlB. However, the bulk preparation of MBene remains challenging.

According to reports, the block precursor MAB phase may be chemically etched using HF acid to produce 2D Mo₂B₂ and Fe₂B₂. Following the adsorption of lithium/sodium ions, these two MBene exhibits good stability, high Young's modulus, outstanding electronic conductivity, a modest diffusion coefficient, and high storage capacity, making them particularly suitable as lithium/sodium ion batteries anode materials.

Alameda et al. produced numerous substable Mo-Al-B symbiotic phases by performing local chemical separation of Al from MoAlB single crystals and reacting them with NaOH solution at ambient temperature to produce two-dimensional monolayer MoB (MBene).

Fig 1. Crystal structures of various MAB phases and b structures of MXenes and MBenes. (Sharma A, et al. 2022)

Catalytic Properties of MBenes

Due to the electron-deficient nature of boron compared to carbon, there are exotic bonding states in MBenes that give them a variety of geometrical and electronic structures. Therefore, MBenes may have different properties from MXenes. several stable MBenes were theoretically predicted by Sun et al. including Mo₂B₂, Fe₂B₂, and Cr_n+1B_2n (n=1-3). These MBenes exhibit outstanding electronic conductivity and an extremely high Young's modulus. Particularly, it was discovered that the ideal GH* for Fe2B2 and Cr4B6 was extremely near to zero, making them promising electrocatalysts for HER.

Jiang et al. performed a high-throughput screening from MAB solids and proposed 12 MBenes, including MnB, HfB, ZrB, Mo₂B, Nb₅B₂, Nb₃B₄, Ta₃B₄, V₃B₄, FeB₂, and RuB₂, which have low fracture strength as well as high thermal, dynamic, and mechanical stability. The metallic ferromagnetic behavior of MnB and its F- or OH- derivatives with high Curie temperature is predicted. Based on these MBenes structures, Yang et al. investigated their electrocatalytic properties for nitrogen reduction reactions (NRR) by DFT calculations.

They showed that MBenes have high stability in aqueous solutions at room temperature, making them ideal for electrochemical applications. These theoretical investigations provide light on the potential of these unique non-precious metal 2D borides as energy conversion catalysts.

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Alfa Chemistry offers an extensive catalog of MBenes with excellent electronic conductivity predicted to have many potential applications in various fields such as Li-ion and Na-ion batteries, electrocatalysis and magnetic devices. In addition, 2D MBenes exhibited excellent catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), indicating its promising application as an electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution.

Reference

1. Sharma A, et al. (2022). "Synthesis, Properties, and Applications of MBenes (Two-Dimensional Metal Borides) as Emerging 2D Materials: A Review." Journal of Materials Science. 265.

MAB Phase Material (3)

Multilayer MBene (1)

Single Layer MBene (1)

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