A material made entirely of boron—an element mainly associated with extremely hard, brittle structures—has surprised researchers with a rare combination of properties: it conducts electricity far better than conventional forms of boron and can undergo plastic deformation before failing. The new structure is called Imma-B60 and was described on 23 September 2026 in Nature Chemistry by a team led by researchers at Yanshan University in China.
In numerical terms, the result is unusual: Imma-B60 has a conductivity of approximately 9 × 10² S/m, around seven orders of magnitude higher than β-boron, and a bandgap below 0.2 eV. In nanomechanical tests, the material achieved approximately 23% plastic deformation through the glide of dislocations in the crystal. The data come from the original paper published in Nature Chemistry.
The discovery is interesting not only because it adds a new form of boron to chemistry textbooks. It shows that an element’s properties can be radically changed by the way its atoms are arranged. The same principle explains why diamond and graphite, although both made entirely of carbon, behave so differently.
What Imma-B60 actually is
Imma-B60 is a boron allotrope. An allotrope is a different structural form of the same chemical element. The atoms are the same, but they are bonded and ordered differently, and this geometry can alter hardness, electrical conductivity, colour, stability, and the way a material breaks or deforms.
The name “B60” refers to an architecture based on 60 boron atoms in the structural cell described by the researchers, while “Imma” comes from the crystallographic space group into which the structure is classified. The lattice consists of B12 icosahedra linked by triangular B3 units. The result is an open structure with internal spaces unusual for a boron allotrope.
This is where one of the keys to the discovery lies. Boron is known for its complex chemistry: it has few valence electrons relative to the number of bonds it can form, leading to structures with multicentre bonding and a wide variety of possible arrangements. This chemical flexibility allows it to build lattices unlike the simpler structures of many other elements.
How the material was made: sodium first, then the “scaffold” is removed
Imma-B60 was not produced simply by melting and cooling boron. The team used a two-step strategy. First, it synthesised a high-pressure precursor made of sodium and boron, Na4B60. The precursor was then heated under vacuum to remove almost all of the sodium.
For more information on advanced materials, see Radiative cooling: the roof that sends heat into space, which offers complementary details on this subject.
In the study’s supplementary data, the authors describe degassing at approximately 900 °C, under high vacuum, for 48 hours for the samples used in the main characterisation. Once the sodium is removed, the boron lattice does not collapse into its usual form but retains an open architecture. It is as if temporary scaffolding helped erect a building, after which the scaffolding was removed while the building remained standing.
The analogy should nevertheless be treated with caution: sodium is not merely an inert filler. It participates in the formation of the crystalline precursor and makes accessible a configuration that would be very difficult to obtain by conventional methods. This is one of the study’s most important implications: precursors can serve as “chemical routes” to metastable materials that would otherwise not form.
Why the conductivity is so surprising
Conventional forms of boron are generally poor conductors or semiconductors. In Imma-B60, measurements indicated a bandgap below 0.2 eV and a conductivity of approximately 900 S/m. The authors compare this value with β-boron and report an increase of approximately seven orders of magnitude.
“Seven orders of magnitude” means that the difference is on the order of ten million times. It does not mean, however, that Imma-B60 has suddenly become a replacement for copper or other highly conductive metals. The discovery should be interpreted in relation to boron: an elemental material known mainly for hard, poorly conductive phases has been pushed into an entirely different range of properties.
From an electronic perspective, the open structure and the way the boron atoms’ orbitals overlap greatly reduce the energy barrier to electrical charge transport. The researchers supplemented experimental measurements with electronic-structure calculations, making it possible to connect conductivity to lattice geometry.
What “23% deformation” means—and what it does not mean
This point can easily cause confusion. Imma-B60 is not rubber, and it does not elastically stretch by 23% before returning to its original shape. In the experiments, the researchers tested nanopillars of the material under uniaxial compression and observed approximately 23% plastic deformation.
Plastic deformation means that a structure can permanently change shape without fracturing immediately. In many very hard materials, sufficiently high stress quickly leads to cracks and brittle failure. In Imma-B60, microscopic images and analysis of the mechanism indicate dislocation glide—the movement of linear defects in the crystal that allows atomic layers to rearrange.
This combination is what makes the result unusual: a boron lattice can be relatively hard, far more conductive than β-boron, and capable of substantial plastic deformation at the same time. In materials science, these properties do not always occur together.
| Property | Imma-B60 | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical conductivity | ~9 × 10² S/m | Approximately 7 orders of magnitude above β-boron |
| Bandgap | < 0.2 eV | Explains the much more conductive electronic behaviour |
| Plastic deformation | ~23% | Shows that the material can avoid immediate brittle failure |
| Structure | Open B12 + B3 lattice | Enables slip mechanisms and unusual electronic properties |
| Synthesis method | Na4B60 precursor + sodium removal | Could open a route to other metastable phases |
Why boron is such an unusual element
Boron sits next to carbon in the periodic table, but its structural behaviour is much less intuitive. Carbon is famous for diamond, graphite and graphene. Boron also has numerous crystalline forms, but its atoms tend to build complex clusters, especially 12-atom icosahedra.
One of the best-known modern phases, γ-B28, was described in 2009 and attracted attention because it displays an unexpected ionic character for a material made of a single element. The 2009 paper is available in Nature. The new Imma-B60 continues the same story: boron may look simple in the periodic table, but at the atomic level it can adopt unusually sophisticated architectures.
Why the synthesis method may be more important than the material itself
Imma-B60 may never end up in a cable, a phone or a commercial battery. At this stage, it would be premature to discuss specific industrial applications. The material is produced through a laboratory process involving high pressures, a specialised precursor and a controlled degassing step.
But the strategy used could be generalised. If an element does not readily form a metastable structure directly, researchers can first build a precursor with another element, then remove that element and attempt to “freeze in” the remaining lattice. The approach resembles a temporary chemical mould.
The study’s authors say this precursor-based route could broaden access to metastable materials—phases that are not thermodynamically the most stable, but can persist long enough to be studied and potentially used. In materials science, many useful properties arise precisely in such unusual states.
Potential applications—and why caution is needed
The combination of conductivity, low atomic mass, open structure and deformability could be of interest for research into functional materials, micro- and nanoscale components, sensors, or structures in which mechanical and electronic properties need to be combined. For now, however, these are research directions, not products ready for launch.
Key questions must be resolved for any real-world application: can the material be produced in large quantities? Is it stable for months or years under real conditions? Can it be fabricated as a film, wire or component? What does the process cost? How does it behave at high temperatures, in air or in contact with other materials?
The study published now demonstrates the existence and basic properties of a new phase. It does not yet demonstrate industrial feasibility. This distinction between a “laboratory discovery” and a “usable technology” is important to prevent solid scientific work from being turned into an exaggerated promise.
What is confirmed and what remains unknown
| Status | Claim |
|---|---|
| Experimentally confirmed | A boron allotrope with the Imma-B60 structure has been synthesised. |
| Experimentally confirmed | Conductivity is on the order of 9 × 10² S/m and the bandgap is below 0.2 eV. |
| Experimentally confirmed | Nanopillars showed approximately 23% plastic deformation in the reported tests. |
| Supported by structural analysis | The deformation is associated with dislocation-glide mechanisms. |
| Still to be demonstrated | Large-scale production and industrial cost. |
| Still to be demonstrated | Commercial applications and long-term stability in real devices. |
Why this story is worth following
In materials science, the most important discovery is sometimes not a finished object but a new possibility. Imma-B60 demonstrates that boron is not confined to the conventional image of a hard, brittle and poorly conductive material. A different atomic geometry can radically change its behaviour.
More importantly, the experiment offers a strategy for reaching structures that do not naturally appear along ordinary thermodynamic pathways. If the method can be extended to other systems, it could yield a whole family of elemental or compound materials with combinations of properties that today seem incompatible.
In the same area of scientific discoveries explained without exaggeration, InfoBuz has also examined the 21 organic molecules found by Curiosity on Mars, as well as the 31 early quasars observed by the Euclid mission.
Frequently asked questions about Imma-B60
What is Imma-B60?
Imma-B60 is a new boron allotrope, meaning a different structure made exclusively of boron atoms. It has an open lattice built from B12 clusters connected by B3 units.
How well does it conduct electricity?
The study reports conductivity of approximately 9 × 10² S/m, around seven orders of magnitude above β-boron. This is a huge improvement for a boron allotrope, without making the material equivalent to the best metallic conductors.
Does Imma-B60 stretch like rubber?
No. The value of approximately 23% refers to plastic deformation observed in mechanical tests on nanopillars. The material can permanently change shape before breaking; it does not elastically return to its original shape like an elastomer.
How was it produced?
The researchers first formed the Na4B60 precursor under high pressure, then removed almost all of the sodium by heating it under vacuum. The remaining boron structure retained the open Imma-B60 lattice.
Will it soon be used in electronics?
There is no commercial demonstration yet. The study shows that the material can be synthesised and measures its fundamental properties. Scaling up production, integrating it into devices and assessing long-term stability must be studied separately.
