Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and universities in China and Japan have discovered a new structural variant of carbon called "penta-graphene" -- a very thin sheet of pure carbon that has a unique structure inspired by a pentagonal pattern of tiles found paving the streets of Cairo.
The newly discovered material, called penta-graphene, is a single layer of carbon pentagons that resembles the Cairo tiling, and that appears to be dynamically, thermally and mechanically stable.
"The three last important forms of carbon that have been discovered were fullerene, the nanotube and graphene. Each one of them has unique structure. Penta-graphene will belong in that category," said the paper's senior author, Puru Jena, Ph.D., distinguished professor in the Department of Physics in VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences.
The researchers' paper, "Penta-Graphene: A New Carbon Allotrope," will appear in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and is based on research that was launched at Peking University and VCU.
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