Carbyne is the strongest material in the world - 2x stronger than graphene

Carbyne is the world's strongest material - about 2x stronger than graphene or carbon nanotubes which, until now, were the strongest known materials by some margin. Carbyne is stronger & stiffer than any other known material to humans. It's a new form of carbon that has a long list of unusual and highly desirable properties and can find wide range of applications from nanoelectronic / spintronic devices to hydrogen storage and high-density batteries.

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Carbyne is also known as acetylenic carbon is an infinitely long chain of carbon atoms put together by sequential double bonds or alternating single / triple bonds. So far, Carbyne remained a mystery for the scientists. Researchers at the Rice University, led by Mingjie Liu, calculated the properties of carbyne using mathematical models and knowledge of carbon atoms. They found out that Carbyne has extremely high tensile stiffness - making it almost impossible to stretch, chemically stable and yet, flexible! It can be bent into an arc or a circle. While doing so, the chemical strain between the atoms changes the electrical bandgap. Researchers believe that this property of Carbyne could lead to its uses in microelectrochemical systems aka MEMS.

Carbyne can also be twisted, but it requires adding methylene molecules at the end of the carbyne chain. Researchers found out that by 'decorating' chains of carbyne with different molecules, several new properties can be introduced in the material. For example, adding calcium atoms at the end of carbyne would turn it into a hydrogen storage sponge.

Just like graphene, carbyne is just one atom thick. What this means is that for its mass, the surface area of carbyne would be 'huge'. You'll be surprised to know that a single gram of graphene, has surface area equal to that of about 5 tennis courts! Researchers believe that this property would be very useful in energy storage mechanisms - where the electrode's surface area is in direct relation to the energy density of the device.

Check out the official research paper on the source link.

Source: #-Link-Snipped-#

Replies

  • Nayan Goenka
    Nayan Goenka
    That is some interesting post. Is it more feasible to use than graphene. What is the point if graphene would be better to use in places where they are planning to deploy carbyne.
  • Sarathkumar Chandrasekaran
    Sarathkumar Chandrasekaran
    We had already discussed the advantages of graphene in recent times that Graphene has more applications in electronic field .I want to know that can carbyne beat graphene in electronics field.Yet we dont know the feasibility of carbyne because Graphene had not been used widely.Its stiill in research area and all are in theoretical values.We want to know the practical values and applications to confirm its feasability.
  • KenJackson
    KenJackson
    Fascinating!
    I've read that graphene is thought to be just barely strong enough to make a Japanese Company Aims for Space Elevator by 2050 | Space practical. So if carbyne really is twice as strong, it should have enough strength plus good margin. And the "almost impossible to stretch" feature sure won't hurt either.
  • Jeffrey Arulraj
    Jeffrey Arulraj
    Strength wise this is the metal to be noted a lot a little more research will surely open our eyes about the fields where we can use them

    Graphene is marvel to us as we know where they can be used Carbyne is just out of the box So giving it a little time will do some justice. Pls. Don't come to conclusions early on these chemicals
  • KenJackson
    KenJackson
    Conqueror
    Pls. Don't come to conclusions early on these chemicals
    OK. I'll wait a few years before I build my space elevator. 😁

    But here's another news item to throw into the mix. An #-Link-Snipped-# magazine says someone has made composites of graphene with each of nickel, steel and copper. The composites are respectively 180, 200 and 500 times 😲stronger than the bare metal. Someone was quoted saying, “The result is astounding as 0.00004% in weight of graphene increased the strength of the materials by hundreds of times.”

    Graphene just continues to amaze!
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    The Chinese have already promised that they'll build the first space elevator but I seriously doubt the space elevator will ever be built in this century. There's no technology right now that will support the kind of construction required. Prove me wrong.

    Talking about Carbyne - the industrial adoption will be hugely determined by the cost of developing it. I expect use in extremely specialised environments.
  • Nayan Goenka
    Nayan Goenka
    Well you cannot predict for the next 85 years. Building a space elevator in this century might be possible and we know Chinese already. They will build anything if they want to. No guaranty however it will work. If they said they will build the first one, they might be speaking the truth and might already have started working on it. Of course its cost will be in billions.
  • KenJackson
    KenJackson
    I'm thoroughly enamored with the concept of a space elevator. There are many, many thrilling hurtles that have to be vaulted before one will be built and even more to keep it from being shredded by meteors, space junk and satellites.

    But in the '60s plenty of people scoffed at the idea of putting a man on the moon. In the '70s people asked me what on earth I would do with a computer if I an individual could ever afford one (I didn't have an answer, but I dreamed of having one anyway). In the '80s--I don't know, but you get the point.

    I loved reading Amazon.com and realizing that a space elevator actually made physical and mathematical sense and might be physically possible. Now Obayashi Corp, a Japanese company, claims they're committed to building one by 2050. I just might live to see it!
  • stephens
    stephens
    if carbyne 'strength' comes from the fact that it is a ring within a ring, what would happen if more and more rings could inserted, would the strength keep increasing and hey presto space elevator via ultrarope kone ltd

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