Boron is a group 13 main-group element (atomic number 5) characterized by electron deficiency, leading to extensive multicenter bonding and a rich structural chemistry. In materials science and solid-state chemistry, boron forms diverse allotropes, including icosahedral cluster-based crystalline phases with high hardness and thermal stability. Its trivalent nature enables formation of covalent networks, borides, borates, and boron-rich ceramics critical in high-temperature and neutron-absorbing applications. In coordination and organoboron chemistry, boron’s Lewis acidity underpins reactions such as hydroboration and its role in frustrated Lewis pair systems, making boron central to catalysis, electronic materials, and functional inorganic frameworks.
Shielding materials are essential in key modern industrial settings—such as spacecraft, nuclear power plants, semiconductor equipment, and advanced medical devices—to protect both equipment and personnel from electromagnetic ...
Space Exploration
Apr 28, 2026
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The transition from simple chemistry to the complex biology of molecules that gave rise to life is a puzzle that scientists have been trying to solve for ages.
Boron, a chemical element next to carbon in the periodic table, is known for its unique ability to form complex bond networks. Unlike carbon, which typically bonds with two or three neighboring atoms, boron can share electrons ...
Nanomaterials
Dec 8, 2025
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A new study has uncovered how tiny differences in boron atoms can help scientists better predict the long-term behavior of glass used to store hazardous waste. The findings, published in Environmental and Biogeochemical Processes, ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 15, 2025
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More than ten years ago, researchers at Rice University led by materials scientist Boris Yakobson predicted that boron atoms would cling too tightly to copper to form borophene, a flexible, metallic two-dimensional material ...
Nanophysics
May 23, 2025
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Volatiles are crucial for sustaining life and Earth's habitability, with subduction zones being the main pathways for these materials to enter the mantle. However, the devolatilization of subducting slabs may impede the recycling ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 29, 2025
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Move over, graphene. There's a new, improved two-dimensional material in the lab. Borophene, the atomically thin version of boron first synthesized in 2015, is more conductive, thinner, lighter, stronger and more flexible ...
Nanomaterials
May 6, 2024
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Substitutional doping from foreign elements stands out as a preferred method for precisely tailoring the electronic band structure, conduction type, and carrier concentration of pristine materials. In the realm of three-dimensional ...
Condensed Matter
Jan 8, 2024
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140
Recently, two-dimensional (2D) boron sheets—borophenes—have drawn great interest from materials scientists because of their similarity to graphene. However, understanding of how the material can be stable in the 2D form is ...
Nanomaterials
Apr 27, 2023
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110
Researchers from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators from the University of Science and Technology of China, have revealed the formation of boron clusters with magic numbers ...
Nanophysics
Mar 9, 2023
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