The comeback kid: Black phosphorus and its new potential

When it was discovered over a century ago, black phosphorus was considered relatively useless. Over the past five years, however, the engineers and chemists have become intrigued by the material for its potential as an ultra-thin semiconductor, possibly ushering in a new age of flexible and smaller electronics. Now, one group reports that some commonly held assumptions about black phosphorus are incorrect and that the material is exceptionally tunable.