The University of Vienna © A.Munich
The University of Vienna © A.Munich

Graphene used to make stronger material

Scientists from the University of Vienna, Austria, have used graphene to create a stable – albeit synthesised – carbyne prototype, which promises more robustness than any known material.

Carbyne has proved challenging to create due to its being a one-dimensional chain of carbon atoms. Its structure makes it highly reactive, rendering it susceptible to self-destruction no sooner than it had been created. The University of Vienna, however, has devised a method of preventing this destruction during the production process: by including graphene.

With two sheets of the two-dimensional ‘wonder-material’ laid together, the scientists created a double-walled tube. The carbyne was then synthesised within this tube, which functioned as a kind of protective exterior for the carbyne to maintain structural integrity.

The study, which has been published in the online journal Nature Materials, says: ‘Although end-capping groups can be used to stabilise carbon chains, length limitations are still a barrier for production, and even more so for application. We report a method for the bulk production of long acetylenic linear carbon chains protected by thin double-walled carbon nanotubes. […] Our results establish a route for the bulk production of exceptionally long and stable chains composed of more than 6,000 carbon atoms, representing an elegant forerunner towards the final goal of carbyne’s bulk production.’

Carbyne has been shown to contain elements stronger than graphene and even diamond. To what use carbyne will be put whilst encased in a graphene nanotube, however, is yet to be determined, but no doubt this study will inspire a new wave of researchers to attempt to find one.