On 16 April 2024, scientists from Linköping University in Sweden reported that they had produced goldene, a single layer of gold atoms 100nm wide. Lars Hultman, a materials scientist on the team behind the new research, is quoted as saying "we submit that goldene is the first free-standing 2D metal, to the best of our knowledge", meaning that it is not stuck to any other material, unlike plumbene and stanene. Researchers from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) previously reported to have synthesised Goldene in 2022, however various other scientists have contended that the NYUAD team failed to prove they made a single-layer sheet of gold, as opposed to a multi-layer sheet. Goldene is expected to be used primarily for its optical properties, with applications such as sensing or as a catalyst.