An international team of scientists led by a researcher at Queen's University Belfast has developed a material that has similar physical properties to silicon while being more durable, lightweight and flexible. This process for fabricating these so-called van der Waals solids allows compounds to be brought together and assembled in a predefined way. The material layers a carbon molecule known as a "buckyball" with graphene and hexagonal boron nitride to create a van der Waals solid with a unique range of features. This is the first time such an arrangement has been demonstrated in nature.
An international team of scientists led by a researcher at Queen's University Belfast has developed a material that has similar physical properties to silicon while being more durable, lightweight and flexible. The material layers a carbon molecule known as a "buckyball" with graphene and hexagonal boron nitride to create a van der Waals solid with a unique range of features. This is the first time such an arrangement has been demonstrated in nature.