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 lead 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.

没有类似的块状同素异形体的2D材料的合成通过依赖于衬底的外延提供了多种结构选择，从而保证了相当广泛的物理和化学性质。但是，尽管在理论和实验上共同努力以指导材料的发现，但合成2D材料的成功演示却很少。最近合成的2D硼多晶型物（即borophene）提供了这种成功的显着例子。在此观点中，我们讨论了硼烯研究的最新进展和未来机会。Borophene结合了独特的机械性能和各向异性的金属性，从而补充了常规2D材料的经典。硼-硼键的多中心特征导致构型变化的形成，空位介导的结构图案，在单元素2D系统中提供了前所未有的多样性，具有电子应用，化学功能化，材料合成和复杂异质结构的潜力。硼苯醚以其在计算指导的合成中的基础为基础，可以作为正在进行的发现和开发合成2D材料工作的原型。