Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) monolayers have attracted considerable interest as atomically thin sp²-hybridized sheets that are readily synthesized on various metal supports. They complement the library of two-dimensional materials including graphene and open perspectives for van der Waals heterostructures. In this review, we discuss the surface science of hBN including its growth, the hBN/metal interface and its application as template for adsorbates. We mainly focus on experimental studies on hBN/metal single crystals under ultra-high vacuum conditions. The interfaces are classified regarding their geometric structure - ranging from planar to strongly corrugated overlayers - and their electronic properties - covering weakly and strongly interacting systems. The main part of this review deals with hBN/metal substrates acting as supports for adsorbates such as individual atoms, metal clusters, organic molecules, metal-organic complexes and networks. We summarize recent surface science studies that reveal the unique role of the hBN/metal interfaces in tailoring characteristic properties of such adsorbates. Central aspects include templating and self-assembly, catalytic activity and on-surface reactions, electronic and magnetic structure. As many of the resulting systems feature superstructures with periodicities in the nanometer range, a length scale also reflecting the size of adsorbates, scanning probe microscopy is one of the most common techniques employed. In short, the goal of this review is to give an overview on the experimental and complementary theoretical studies on hBN templates available to date and to highlight future perspectives.

六方氮化硼（h BN）单层作为原子薄的sp ^2-杂交片很容易引起人们的兴趣，该片易于在各种金属载体上合成。它们补充了包括石墨烯和范德华异质结构的开放视角在内的二维材料库。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了h BN的表面科学，包括其生长，h BN /金属界面及其作为吸附物模板的应用。我们主要专注于h的实验研究BN /金属单晶在超高真空条件下。对界面进行了分类，涉及其几何结构-从平面覆盖层到强波纹状的覆盖层-以及它们的电子特性-涵盖了弱相互作用和强相互作用的系统。这篇综述的主要部分涉及作为吸附物载体的h BN /金属基底，例如单个原子，金属团簇，有机分子，金属有机配合物和网络。我们总结了最近的表面科学研究，这些研究揭示了h的独特作用。BN /金属界面可调整此类吸附物的特性。主要方面包括模板和自组装，催化活性和表面反应，电子和磁性结构。由于许多生成的系统具有周期性在纳米范围内的超结构，长度尺度也反映了被吸附物的大小，因此扫描探针显微镜是最常用的技术之一。简而言之，本综述的目的是概述迄今为止可用的h BN模板的实验性和补充性理论研究，并重点介绍未来的观点。