AUSTRIA – A team of researchers at the University of Vienna has created for the first time in the carbyne research history; a “supermaterial” that it is hoped it will provide all kinds of industrial applications in the future due to its enormous resistance and ability to conduct electricity.

Carbyne, any compound whose molecular structure includes an electrically neutral carbon atom with three non-bonded electrons, connected to another atom by a single bond, had been “invented” or “discovered” by computer simulations. The calculations showed that a long chain of a single atom thick would have a number of hitherto unknown properties.

No one had managed to manufacture it in strings of more than 100 atoms in length, which were also very unstable, until the Austrian university scientists developed a new technique.

With this technology they have been able to create chains of 6,400 atoms in length which is not easily destroyed. To weave this kind of carbon strings, researchers have created a tube from two graphene layers. And between the two layers, which protect the material and preserved indefinitely, they have finally succeeded in synthesizing the elusive carbon.

The confirmed characterization of the new material using various instruments like near-field resonance Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy.

This new breakthrough opens the door to new manufacturing techniques which are more lightweight, strong and intelligent materials. Previous research had already shown superior properties it offers.

The research has been published in the journal Nature Materials.

In organic chemistry, a carbyne is a general term for any compound whose molecular structure includes an electrically neutral carbon atom with three non-bonded electrons, connected to another atom by a single bond.