Carbyne, a one-dimensional chain of carbon atoms, is incredibly strong for being so thin, making it an intriguing possibility for use in next-generation electronics, but its extreme instability causing it to bend and snap on itself made it nearly impossible to produce at all, let alone produce enough of it for advanced studies. Now, an international team of researchers, including from Penn State, may have a solution.
The research team has enclosed carbyne in single-walled carbon nanotubes—tiny, tube-shaped structures made entirely of carbon that are thousands of times thinner than a human hair. Doing this at low temperatures makes carbyne more stable and easier to produce, potentially leading to new advancements in materials science and technology, the researchers said.
They called the development "promising news," as scientists have struggled for decades to create a stable form of carbyne in large enough quantities for deeper investigation.
"The history of carbyne's discovery is like a detective story," said Slava V. Rotkin, professor of engineering science and mechanics and co-author of the study published in ACS Nano. "It was predicted theoretically, but for many years, attempts to synthesize it were unsuccessful because the chains would either bend or form unintended bonds."
To read more, click here.