High-resolution STM image of stanene prepared on a Ag2Sn surface alloy. The honeycomb stanene structure model is superimposed. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy ...

Of particular interest is stanene's potential to conduct electricity without loss at room temperature when functionalized with fluorine. This could transform the field of electrical conductivity.

Adding fluorine atoms (yellow) to a single layer of tin atoms (gray) should allow a predicted new material, stanene, to conduct electricity perfectly along its edges (blue and red arrows) at ...