Borophene is more conductive, thinner, lighter, stronger, and more flexible than graphene, the 2D version of carbon. Now, researchers have made the material potentially more useful by imparting chirality — or handedness — on it, which could make for advanced sensors and implantable medical devices. The chirality, induced via a method never before used on borophene, enables the material to interact in unique ways with different biological units such as cells and protein precursors.

The researchers synthesized borophene platelets — similar to the cellular fragments found in blood — using solution state synthesis, which involves exposing a powdered version of the material in a liquid to one or more external factors, such as heat or pressure, until they combine into the desired product.

The researchers found that certain amino acids, like cysteine, would bind to borophene in distinct locations, depending on their chiral handedness. The researchers exposed the chiralized borophene platelets to mammalian cells in a dish and observed that their handedness changed how they interacted with cell membranes and entered cells. (Image credit: Dipanjan Pan.)

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