Remember buckyballs? Though the term is a colloquialism referring to Buckminsterfullerene, it describes all manner of cage-like matrices that roughly take the shape of a soccer ball. Previously only known in chemistry to manifest in carbon atoms, researchers from Brown University, Shanxi University and Tsinghua University in China have made a startling discovery – a cluster of 40 boron atoms that form a remarkable similar cage structure. The discovery of the original buckyball 30 years ago sparked a tremendous fervor in nanotech research. Will this new boron model have a similar effect?

“This is the first time that a boron cage has been observed experimentally,” said Lai-Sheng Wang, a professor of chemistry at Brown who led the team that made the discovery. “As a chemist, finding new molecules and structures is always exciting. The fact that boron has the capacity to form this kind of structure is very interesting.”

Previously, such a structure had only been theorized in computer models, making its experimental discovery particularly exciting. Graphene, an ultra-thin carbon nanomaterial shortly followed the discovery of Buckminsterfullerene. Scientists speculated that boron ought to have similar capabilities, noting that the same 60-atom cage structure wouldn’t be possible because it has one fewer electron than carbon. What exactly the “magic number” would be was the question, and the answer is apparently 40.

Wang and his colleagues had spent years modelling over 10,000 different configurations of 40-atom boron structures. Using a technique called photoelectron spectroscopy, they were then able to test the actual binding energies of the boron clusters in a laboratory setting. The process involves first shooting chunks of boron with a laser, followed by using helium to freeze the resulting boron atom vapors. Finally, a second laser sends one electron flying down an “electron racetrack.” How quickly that electron removes itself determines the binding energy of the cluster.

The experiments resulted in two notable clusters – one was a semi-flat molecule, and the other the aforementioned buckyball clone. It’s not quite as spherical as the carbon original; it consists of 48 triangles, four seven-sided rings and two six-membered rings. Its surface is also less-smooth due to stray atoms poking out.

As for uses? No one, not even Wang, is sure.

“For us, just to be the first to have observed this, that’s a pretty big deal,” Wang said. “Of course if it turns out to be useful that would be great, but we don’t know yet. Hopefully this initial finding will stimulate further interest in boron clusters and new ideas to synthesize them in bulk quantities.”