Introducing carbyne — a material stronger than graphene

A form of carbon, called carbyne, has successfully been stabilized in the laboratory. The research team behind the feat have declared the material to be stronger than graphene.

A form of carbon, called carbyne, has successfully been stabilized in the laboratory. The research team behind the feat have declared the material to be stronger than graphene.

Much has been written about graphene, a similar form of carbon. Graphene is a highly conductive material, lightweight, transparent and strong. It seen by many materials scientists as the basis for a new generation of electronics.

The construction of a stable form of a material related to graphene — carbyne — represents a step from theoretical physics to practical reality. Carbyne was predicted but not actually produced several years ago. The bridge has now been crossed.

Scientists based at University of Vienna in Austria have synthesized carbyne for the first time. Creating a stable form was technically difficult because carbyne is composed of a long one-dimensional chain of carbon atoms linked one to the other. To do this, the scientists took two sheets of graphene and rolled them together and then used this stable superstructure to fashion the carbyne. The new structure is 6,400 atoms long.

The applications will need to be explored, Gizmodo speculates. The material is stronger than graphene and diamond and one of the stiffest known.

The output of the study has been published in the journal Nature Materials. The research is titled "Confined linear carbon chains as a route to bulk carbyne."

In related news, different research has shown that graphene can be improved further in its efficiency via its shape being altered. New research shows that the topography can enhance some of graphene’s already interesting properties.

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