Antimonene, defined in sensu stricto as a single layer of antimony atoms, is recently the focus of numerous theoretical works predicting a variety of interesting properties and is quickly attracting the attention of the scientific community. However, what places antimonene in a different category from other 2D crystals is its strong spin–orbit coupling and a drastic evolution of its properties from the monolayer to the few‐layer system. The recent isolation of this novel 2D material pushes the interest for antimonene even further. Here, a review of both theoretical predictions and experimental results is compiled. First, an account of the calculations anticipating an electronic band structure suitable for optoelectronics and thermoelectric applications in monolayer form and a topological semimetal in few‐layer form is given. Second, the different approaches to produce antimonene—mechanical and liquid phase exfoliation, and epitaxial growth methods—are reviewed. In addition, this work also reports the main characterization techniques used to study this exotic material. This review provides insights for further exploring the appealing properties of antimonene and puts forward the opportunities and challenges for future applications from (opto)electronic device fabrication to biomedicine.

中文翻译：

---

锑的最新进展：一种新型的二维材料

锑在严格意义上定义为锑原子的单层，最近成为预测各种有趣特性的众多理论工作的焦点，并迅速引起了科学界的关注。但是，将锑与其他2D晶体归为不同类别的原因是其强大的自旋-轨道耦合以及其性能从单层系统到少数层系统的急剧演变。新型2D材料的最新隔离进一步推动了人们对锑烯的兴趣。在这里，对理论预测和实验结果都进行了综述。首先，给出了计算的预期，该计算预期了适用于单层形式和几层形式的拓扑半金属的适用于光电子和热电应用的电子能带结构。第二，综述了生产锑的不同方法（机械剥离和液相剥离以及外延生长方法）。此外，这项工作还报告了用于研究这种奇异材料的主要表征技术。这篇综述为进一步探索锑的吸引力提供了见识，并提出了从（光）电子器件制造到生物医学的未来应用所面临的机遇和挑战。