Carbyne: a Form of Carbon Even Stronger Than Graphene 82
New submitter Dialecticus writes "Sebastian Anthony at ExtremeTech has written an article about research into the physical properties of carbyne, an elusive form of carbon. A new mathematical analysis by Mingjie Liu and others at Rice University suggests that carbyne may achieve double the strength of graphene, stealing its crown and becoming the strongest material known to man. 'While carbyne cannot be stretched, it can be bent into an arc or circle — and by doing so, the additional strain between the carbon atoms alters the electrical bandgap. This property could lead to some interesting uses in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). By adding different molecules to the end of a carbyne chain, such as a methylene (CH2) group, carbyne can also be twisted — much like a strand of DNA — again adding strain and modifying the electrical bandgap. By "decorating" carbyne chains with different molecules, other properties can be added, too: Tack some calcium atoms on the end, which like to mop up spare hydrogen molecules, and suddenly you have a high-density, reversible hydrogen storage sponge.
It’s also important to note that, just like graphene, carbyne is just one atom thick. This means that, for a given mass of carbyne, its surface area is relatively massive. A single gram of graphene, for example, has a surface area of about five tennis courts. This could be very important in areas such as energy storage (batteries, supercapacitors), where the surface area of the electrode is directly proportional to the energy density of the device.'"
When do I get my exoskeleton? (Score:5, Funny)
Been hearing so many wonderful things about exotic forms of carbon but when do I get something I can buy ( at a reasonable price )?
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When it can be made cheaply in bulk, that's the problem.
Re:When do I get my exoskeleton? (Score:5, Funny)
When I was a kid, I used to buy a sophisticated carbon product for data recording. At the time a pencil was two cents...
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You could BUY carbon?
We had to set fire to the school so all the kids could have something to write with.
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If you don't obey the voices your dog will die.
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I guess it's hard to say when a breakthrough will happen. Progress tends to be very incremental. When I was much younger, I was promised that flying cars, flat screen TVs you could hang like a painting and fusion would be "a few years" at most.
Took over 30 yrs just for the TVs, fusion, er, well, "somewhat more than a few years" and counting and the flying cars, well, I suppose we could make them happen very soon if you've got megabucks to spend.
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http://www.amazon.com/Kestrel-Talon-Shimano-Carbon-3035194655/dp/B009R89BYC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1376733551&sr=8-4&keywords=carbon+bicycle [amazon.com]
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Been hearing so many wonderful things about exotic forms of carbon but when do I get something I can buy ( at a reasonable price )?
Like a trip to the moon. They should use this stuff for the space elevator.
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Well, there is a lot of issues here.
1. Nano-technology needs a lot of money for research and development. Most companies do not want to fund in R&D as they cannot quantify the value.
2. Governments are trying to show that they are responsible with money so they are not funding R&D because they will get on some media expose on how they are wasting their money playing with pencil lead and scotch tape.
3. Colleges are getting tight on R&D because there is pressure to cut college costs down.
Higher Ed
Carbyne != Carbine (Score:1)
FTA: "A new form of carbon, dubbed carbyne"
Is there a technical reason as to why it was named so similarly to a type of firearm? Just wondering.
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Gun nuts can be scientists too. Or scientists are so myopic that they didn't know that was already a word. Could go either way, but it's cool to see new things like this still being discovered.
It's an alkyne. (Score:5, Informative)
Because it's an alkyne [wikipedia.org] of pure carbon. At least, the single/triple alternating version is.
The double/double form could be named carbene except that that name is already taken. [wikipedia.org] Then again, that didn't seem to stop them here either. [wikipedia.org] The better name for this material is linear acetylenic carbon. [wikipedia.org] Sadly, I don't remember enough organic chemistry to know what the double/double would be called.
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Sadly, I don't remember enough organic chemistry to know what the double/double would be called.
Here's an article on cumulenes, but I don't know what a the proper name of a long chain of it would be.
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Sadly, I don't remember enough organic chemistry to know what the double/double would be called.
Here's an article on cumulenes, but I don't know what a the proper name of a long chain of it would be.
The proper name is cumulene. In fact, that's pretty clear from the first line of the Wikipedia article you tried to link:
A cumulene is a hydrocarbon with three or more cumulative (consecutive) double bonds.
Emphasis mine.
One of those days... :)
Gah, how do I link web? (Score:2)
Sorry, here's [wikipedia.org] that article on cumulenes.
(Stupid Slashdot posting delay... *grumble grumble*)
Question (Score:2)
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The -yne ending is already in common use for carbon compounds with a triple bond. For example, ethyne (the IUPAC systematic name for acetylene). It's not a very good name in this case though- "carbyne" already refers to a type of reactive species of carbon with three unpaired electrons, in analogy to the more common "carbene" which has two unpaired electrons. Wikipedia suggests a better name for the carbon chain to be "linear acetylenic carbon," though I'll admit it doesn't roll off the tongue. Shorter vers
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From the non-chemistry side of the etymology, it is apparently not known with certainty why a short rifle is called a carbine [etymonline.com] in the first place:
The real crown... (Score:1)
...will go to whichever material can be put to practical use outside of the research lab.
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...will go to whichever material can be put to practical use outside of the research lab.
I'd give some cheers if they could even find impractical use outside of a silicon chip!
But its not... (Score:4, Funny)
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wait no longer..
http://makezine.com/2012/01/17/transparent-aluminum/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnUszxx2pYc
Re:But its not... (Score:4, Informative)
Oh you silly 7-digit UID holder. You know what we call transparent aluminum?
Sapphire. Been known as that for a couple centuries.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
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But you're not describing a structure that stretches; you're describing one that telescopes. Not the same thing.
And while a space elevator won't be fixed at both ends the way a bridge is, it's still going to be subject to outside forces acting on it (high-speed winds in the upper atmospheres, for example). If the bridge parallel bothers you, consider a skyscraper instead - and skyscrapers also need to be elastic enough to sway a little bit.
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Wrong. Learn2bridges.
Re: Space Elevator (Score:2)
I highly doubt we'll ever be able to make strands of this stuff several thousands of km long, so shorter strands will have to be combined. The epoxy or whatever is used to hold them together will undoubtedly have some stretch.
Also, carbon bonds may not be particularly stretchy, but over that kind of length even a tiny amount will add up to a decent distance. If that's not enough, use the helical form.
Re:Space Elevator (Score:5, Informative)
Is it space elevator time yet?
Perhaps not.
However, there does appear to be at least one fly in the ointment - material stability. It seems that if you have more than one strand of Carbyne that contacts another one, cross-links will form and will degrade the material’s strength. Money quote from the article; “This barrier suggests the viability of carbyne in condensed phase at room temperature on the order of days” [spaceelevatorblog.com]
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So sandwich or encase the Carbyne molecules, am I missing something here?
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Instability in organic molecules does not neccessarily mean that it reacts with gasses in the air (namely oxygen).
It usually means that there's a more stable form it will inevitably convert to. There are countless conversion reactions in organic molecules - exposure to heat, air or light usually only fastens the process. Preventing exposure to these factors does not stop the degradation, however.
Take batteries as an example. LiIon batteries will degrade regardless of outside factors - and those are pretty m
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We're still on simulated space elevators.
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A bit too advanced, perhaps (Score:2)
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Raw Tensile Strength Is Now High Enough (Score:1)
As a mechanical engineer, I have only ever needed integral calculus outside of school work (including tutoring) three times:
1. With a friend, for fun, to win a bet. Yay, free beer!
2. To answer a particular question for work. Yay, happy boss!
3. Just now, for fun, to determine the required material stiffness for a cable hanging down from geostationary orbit (i.e. a space elevator cable) to support its own weight. Yay, Science!
Calculated minimum required material stiffness for space elevator cable: 4.9x
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You only use calculus rarely!
Right now I am using it to have compare 2p and 3s orbitals.
I get calculus and quantum mech at the same time - wohoo.
Math and science in general are fun and I do them recreationally all the time.
Some people watch sports, I multiply polynomials.
Are you related to the country of Scotland?
If so then what are your thoughts on the referendum about countyhood next year?
Five tennis courts (Score:3)
...How much is that in Volkswagens per story?
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If I had even a single moderator point, I swear it would be yours.
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That depends entirely on the current conversion rate between Volkswagens and Libraries of Congress, of course.
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What is the surface area of a tennis court anyway?
Since they have that funky material on the ground with all those cracks for grip..
It doesn't steal the crown... (Score:4, Funny)
It doesn't steal the crown... ...until we can freeze Han Solo in it.
I'm holding out for carbonite.
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In a single-atom thick layer, which 'side' stretches?
There's your answer. Back to school with ye.
Re: Bending IS Stretching (Score:2)
Atoms have thickness, but bonds are essentially one dimensional.
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You got to think 2 dimensionally! Think of having a bunch of sphere magnets, you clip them into a 1 magnet high sheet. Now you can bend the sheet of magnets without stretching them they just roll on each other. You pole is more 3 dimension so you have rows and rows of these things so the upper part will stretch assuming that its bonds are equal on all dimensions.
A mythical compound (Score:1)
Perhaps a little more emphasis should be given to the fact that the compound in question has never been synthesized, despite decades of effort. And that one strand would combine explosively with a second, if two such strands could be made.
one atom thick, is there inner surface & outer (Score:1)
Normally, one could measure the inner surface and the outer and compare. You could use any unit of measurement you wanted, such as "atom lengths". For example, you could say that the inner surface is a million atoms long and the outer surface is a 1.03 million.
This stuff is one atom thick. In this case, the atoms that make up the inner surface are SAME ATOMS as the outer surface. The inside and the outside are the same side! So of course they are the same length, since they are the same atoms.
In t
Methylene (Score:2)