Surfactant-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation of dual-phase borophene for electrochemical epinephrine sensing

Abstract

This study presents a novel and facile approach to synthesizing two-dimensional (2D) borophene, using a surfactant-assisted liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) method. The sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS), an anionic surfactant, when dispersed in an aqueous medium, effectively exfoliates bulk boron powder, yielding stable, high-quality thin 2D borophene. The microscopic and spectroscopic analysis confirms that the synthesized 2D borophene consists of two distinct β₁₂ and χ₃ phases with a lattice spacing of 0.53 nm. Its excellent properties are comparable to graphene and MXene, with an optical band gap of 3.53 eV, confirming its semiconducting behavior. Electrochemical studies reveal that 2D borophene exhibits a high surface area, excellent conductivity, and remarkable stability, making it an ideal candidate for electrochemical sensing applications. The 2D borophene-modified electrode demonstrates exceptional sensitivity in detecting epinephrine (EP) with a detection limit of 24.81 μM in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). This study not only establishes a scalable and sustainable synthesis route for 2D borophene, but also highlights its potential for next-generation biosensing and energy storage applications, paving the way for future advancements in nanomaterial-based electrochemical devices.