A new form of boron

A new phase of the element boron can be stretched to more than 20% of its original length and has an electrical conductivity over a million times that of typical boron materials. The structure, called Imma-B₆₀, is the first new unusual form of boron discovered since 2009. Researchers made it by coaxing boron to react with sodium under high pressure, then removing sodium impurities from the mixture. These properties suggest that the material could one day be used in solar panels, or to replace existing boron compounds in body armour.