Plate Nº 28 · recorded October 10, 2026
Chemistry & MaterialsReported finding
Flexible Boron Allotrope Conducts 10 Million Times Better
Chemists have synthesized Imma-B60, a porous pure-boron framework that conducts electricity 10 million times better than common boron and deforms by ~32% without fracturing.
By Nathan Brooks4 min read736 words
In brief
- Imma-B60, a new pure boron allotrope, conducts electricity about 10 million times better than common rhombohedral boron, reaching roughly 9×10² S/m.
- The material withstands about 32% compressive strain without fracturing, thanks to sliding atomic planes.
- Researchers synthesized it by baking sodium boride at 900°C for two days in a vacuum, using zinc interlayers to grow large crystals.
- The study was published in Nature Chemistry on September 25, 2026 (DOI: 10.1038/s41557-026-02267-7).
- Imma-B60 has a bandgap under 0.2 eV, compared with over 1.5 eV for conventional boron allotropes.
A newly synthesized form of pure boron conducts electricity about 10 million times better than the common form of the element, and it can be compressed by roughly a third of its size without shattering. Chemists led by Feng Chen describe the material, called Imma-B60, in a study published in Nature Chemistry on September 25, 2026.
The result ends a decade-long quest. Since the mid-2010s, theorists had predicted that a plastic, highly conductive form of elemental boron was possible, but no laboratory had managed to make one. The new paper demonstrates that such a material exists — with important caveats about how much is still unknown.
What makes Imma-B60 unusual?
Boron, the fifth element of the periodic table, naturally forms many allotropes — different structural arrangements of the same atoms, each with distinct properties. Most known boron allotropes are dense, superhard, and brittle. They are also poor electrical conductors, with wide bandgaps above 1.5 eV (a bandgap is the energy needed to make a material conduct electricity; wider gaps mean poorer conduction).
Imma-B60 breaks that pattern. Instead of packing its atoms tightly, it forms a porous, open framework built from 12-atom boron cages linked by 3-atom triangular boron units. This airy architecture can shift internally under stress, which lets the material bend and deform rather than crack.
Measurements showed the material behaves as a narrow-bandgap semiconductor, with a bandgap under 0.2 eV. At room temperature it conducts electricity roughly 9×10² siemens per meter — about seven orders of magnitude higher than standard rhombohedral boron.
Compression tests on tiny pillars of the material showed it can withstand about 32% strain without fracturing. High-resolution imaging revealed why: a dislocation-mediated slip mechanism, in which atomic planes slide smoothly past one another under load.
Why was it so hard to make?
The standard route to boron allotropes is a one-step process using high pressure and high temperature. Those conditions push boron atoms into dense, tightly packed crystals — the opposite of the open framework researchers wanted.
Theorists had proposed an alternative: build a precursor scaffold around temporary "guest" metal atoms, then remove the metal afterward. In practice, that approach kept failing. Boron is electron-deficient and bonds fiercely with metal atoms, making the extraction step stubbornly difficult.
Earlier attempts also produced only tiny, low-quality sodium boride crystals, which complicated degassing — an essential step in forming the final allotrope.
How did the team solve it?
The researchers took a two-step scaffolding route. They started with sodium boride, Na4B60, as the scaffold.
To grow larger, higher-quality crystals, they introduced zinc interlayers during the formation of the sodium boride. The zinc promoted the growth of large crystals in which sodium atoms sat inside open channels formed by interconnected boron cages.
The team then placed the crystals in a vacuum furnace and baked them at 900°C for two days. The vacuum pulled the sodium atoms out through those open channels, leaving behind an intact, pure boron framework: Imma-B60.
What could it be used for?
It is too early for applications, and the study does not claim any. But the authors argue that Imma-B60 could serve as a foundation for designing mechanically resilient, functional inorganic materials.
The broader significance may lie in the method. The two-step zinc-assisted scaffolding technique offers a way around the high-pressure methods that dominate boron chemistry, potentially opening routes to other open-framework allotropes that exist only in computational models so far.
Boron already wears several technological hats. It appears in semiconductor technology, and its unusually strong neutron-scattering ability makes it indispensable in neutron-scattering research and nuclear applications. A form of the element that combines plasticity with metal-like conductivity would add a new entry to that list — if the preliminary findings hold up under further study.
What are the limitations?
The reported conductivity and strain figures come from laboratory measurements on small samples, including nanoscale pillars. The study does not yet address how the material behaves at larger scales, over long time periods, or in practical devices. Whether Imma-B60 can be produced in useful quantities beyond the crystal-growth method described also remains an open question for future work.
The paper is published as: Feng Chen et al., "An open-framework boron allotrope exhibiting high conductivity and plasticity," Nature Chemistry (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41557-026-02267-7.
via Phys.org Chemistry (Source)
More from Nathan Brooks
Nearby plates
- Hafnium oxide confirmed as a true antiferroelectric down to 0.6 nm
- Charge Stripes and Majorana Modes Meet Inside a Single Vortex
- Electrons Crawl Together in a New Quantum State of Fe5GeTe2
- Quantum Oscillations Persist Beyond Theory's Limit in ZrTe5
- Strain switches on altermagnetism in ultrathin ruthenium dioxide