New boron allotrope is up to 10 million times more conductive than any other
By 
Jamie Durrani2026-09-30T08:30:00
Imma-B60 produced by innovative strategy that might enable discovery of new allotropes of other elements
A new boron allotrope is unusually pliable and is orders of magnitude more conductive than any of the element’s other forms. It was produced by an innovative precursor-based strategy that might enable the discovery of other materials with interesting properties.
The new material was discovered by a team led by Xiao-Ji Weng and Xiang-Feng Zhou from Yanshan University in Qinhuangdao, China. Their method involves first producing sodium boride (Na4B60), before removing the sodium to leave a pure-boron structure called Imma-B60.