Nanomesh

Perspective view of nanomesh, whose structure ends at the back of the figure. The distance between two pore centers is 3.2nm, and the pores are 0.05nm deep.

The nanomesh is an inorganic nanostructured two-dimensional material, similar to graphene. It was discovered in 2003 at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.[1]

It consists of a single layer of boron (B) and nitrogen (N) atoms, which forms by self-assembly into a highly regular mesh after high-temperature exposure of a clean rhodium[1] or ruthenium[2] surface to borazine under ultra-high vacuum.

The nanomesh looks like an assembly of hexagonal pores[3] (see right image) at the nanometer (nm) scale. The distance between two pore centers is only 3.2 nm, whereas each pore has a diameter of about 2 nm and is 0.05 nm deep. The lowest regions bind strongly to the underlying metal, while the wires[3] (highest regions) are only bound to the surface through strong cohesive forces within the layer itself.

The boron nitride nanomesh is not only stable under vacuum,[1] air[4] and some liquids,[5][6] but also up to temperatures of 796 °C (1070 K).[1] In addition it shows the extraordinary ability to trap molecules[5] and metallic clusters,[2] which have similar sizes to the nanomesh pores, forming a well-ordered array. These characteristics may provide applications of the material in areas like, surface functionalisation, spintronics, quantum computing and data storage media like hard drives.

  1. ^ a b c d M. Corso; Auwärter, Willi; Muntwiler, Matthias; Tamai, Anna; et al. (2004). "Boron Nitride Nanomesh". Science. 303 (5655): 217–220. Bibcode:2004Sci...303..217C. doi:10.1126/science.1091979. PMID 14716010. S2CID 11964344.
  2. ^ a b A. Goriachko; He, Y; Knapp, M; Over, H; et al. (2007). "Self-assembly of a hexagonal boron nitride nanomesh on Ru(0001)". Langmuir. 23 (6): 2928–2931. doi:10.1021/la062990t. PMID 17286422.
  3. ^ a b In the literature different words referring to similar concepts can be found. Below is a summary of them:
    • Pores, apertures, holes: areas of the nanomesh laying the closest to the underlying substrate due to a strong attraction. They form depressions, which are 0.05 nm deep and have a hexagonal shape.
    • Wires: areas of the nanomesh referring to the border of the pores, which lay the farer away to the underlying substrate and therefore represent the upper part of the nanomesh.
  4. ^ O. Bunk; Corso, M; Martoccia, D; Herger, R; et al. (2007). "Surface X-ray diffraction study of boron-nitride nanomesh in air". Surf. Sci. 601 (2): L7–L10. Bibcode:2007SurSc.601L...7B. doi:10.1016/j.susc.2006.11.018.
  5. ^ a b S. Berner; M. Corso; et al. (2007). "Boron Nitride Nanomesh: Functionality from a Corrugated Monolayer". Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 46 (27): 5115–5119. doi:10.1002/anie.200700234. PMID 17538919.
  6. ^ R. Widmer; Berner, S; Groning, O; Brugger, T; et al. (2007). "Electrolytic in situ STM investigation of h-BN-Nanomesh". Electrochem. Commun. 9 (10): 2484–2488. doi:10.1016/j.elecom.2007.07.019.