Carbyne can now be mass-produced

[Atlas2342]

 

"A team from the University of Vienna have successfully produced the super-strong material for the first time in a stable form (meaning it hasn't broken) which sees tensile properties 40-times that of diamond and double that of current science darling graphene."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/carbyne-scientists-create-holy-grail-strongest-material-world-thats-tougher-graphene-1554867

Now we have found a way to mass produce it...

EDIT: As if it wasn't enough...

-Stretching carbyne as little as 10 percent alters its electronic band gap significantly.

-If outfitted with molecular handles at the ends, it can also be twisted to alter its band gap. With a 90-degree end-to-end rotation, it becomes a magnetic semiconductor.

-Carbyne chains can take on side molecules that may make the chains suitable for energy storage.

-The material is stable at room temperature, largely resisting crosslinks with nearby chains.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Atlas2342

[lude]

i wonder what the wonders of science will unlock with carbon, boron and nitride

this is a nice step

[SargeRho]

Smell that? That's the smell of space elevators.

If we can produce this stuff in large enough quantities, that is.

[PB666]

5 minutes ago, SargeRho said:

Smell that? That's the smell of space elevators.

on Diemos.

[Steel]

1 hour ago, Atlas2342 said:

 

"A team from the University of Vienna have successfully produced the super-strong material for the first time in a stable form (meaning it hasn't broken) which sees tensile properties 40-times that of diamond and double that of current science darling graphene."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/carbyne-scientists-create-holy-grail-strongest-material-world-thats-tougher-graphene-1554867

Now we have found a way to mass produce it...

Unless your definition of "mass production" is chains of ~6000 atoms that are still invisible to the naked eye then we still have some way to go. Also note that much larger structures of graphene are required for the stable production of these carbyne chains

[Kerbart]

1 hour ago, Atlas2342 said:

"A team from the University of Vienna have successfully produced the super-strong material for the first time in a stable form (meaning it hasn't broken) which sees tensile properties 40-times that of diamond and double that of current science darling graphene."

I love the irony that it’s apparently very hard to produce this super strong material without breaking it.

[todofwar]

Went back to the original paper in nature materials, apparently it's not stable outside of its carbon nanotube sheath. So, our ability to mass produce this is limited by our ability to produce nanotubes. The strength of this material appears to be overhyped, just like all carbon materials. It does have some interesting properties, but more for nanoscaled electronics than structural materials.

[KSK]

7 minutes ago, todofwar said:

Went back to the original paper in nature materials, apparently it's not stable outside of its carbon nanotube sheath. So, our ability to mass produce this is limited by our ability to produce nanotubes. The strength of this material appears to be overhyped, just like all carbon materials. It does have some interesting properties, but more for nanoscaled electronics than structural materials.

Yeah. I had to look up carbynes:

"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."

So - take a polyethylene molecule and strip off all the hydrogen atoms. That's going to react with pretty much anything nearby, so no, it won't be stable outside of the nanotube sheath. I'm also not sure why carbyne would be stronger than an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWP, for example Dyneem or Spectra). In both cases the mechanical properties arise from having a single chain of carbon atoms, the difference being that UHMWP is effectively that chain sheathed in hydrogen atoms, whereas carbyne is that chain sheathed in a separate molecule.

Lovely chemistry, usual premature guff about the 'real world' applications of that chemistry.

Edit. Incidentally UHMWPs are strong enough to build a lunar space elevator.

Edited April 19, 2016 by KSK

[Atlas2342]

33 minutes ago, Steel said:

Unless your definition of "mass production" is chains of ~6000 atoms that are still invisible to the naked eye then we still have some way to go. Also note that much larger structures of graphene are required for the stable production of these carbyne chains

But, but, were making progress...

20 minutes ago, todofwar said:

The strength of this material appears to be overhyped, just like all carbon materials.

True but nowadays you'd be hard-pressed to find anything thats not overhyped... and if you are still not impressed, there's more:

-Stretching carbyne as little as 10 percent alters its electronic band gap significantly.

-If outfitted with molecular handles at the ends, it can also be twisted to alter its band gap. With a 90-degree end-to-end rotation, it becomes a magnetic semiconductor.

-Carbyne chains can take on side molecules that may make the chains suitable for energy storage.

-The material is stable at room temperature, largely resisting crosslinks with nearby chains.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Atlas2342

[p1t1o]

They are still a ways off from mass-production, but its a step towards it.

"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,"

 

3 minutes ago, Atlas2342 said:

-Carbyne chains can take on side molecules that may make the chains suitable for energy storage.

I don't know how you'd want to persuade them to give that energy up though, would be the same as trying to liberate stored energy from a pencil.

 

Basically I'm getting flashbacks from watching videos at school about the new miracle materials of buckyballs and carbon nanotubes. Useful, interesting, cutting edge stuff, but its not like we aer zooming around in space elevators now is it.

 

I predict:

Someone will try and build a quantum computer with it.

Someone will try and build a bullet proof vest with it.

Someone will come up with a new miracle carbon allotrope before this one gets out of the journals.

[pincushionman]

2 hours ago, Atlas2342 said:

 

"…tensile properties …double that of current science darling graphene."

What?! Something that's even better than unicorn poop?! Surely we are only months away from cities that hang from clouds and nets with which we can catch rainbows!

[Atlas2342]

4 minutes ago, pincushionman said:

What?! Something that's even better than unicorn poop?! Surely we are only months away from cities that hang from clouds and nets with which we can catch rainbows!

Pfth, obviously...Who wouldn't think?

[todofwar]

31 minutes ago, KSK said:

Yeah. I had to look up carbynes:

"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."

So - take a polyethylene molecule and strip off all the hydrogen atoms. That's going to react with pretty much anything nearby, so no, it won't be stable outside of the nanotube sheath. I'm also not sure why carbyne would be stronger than an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWP, for example Dyneem or Spectra). In both cases the mechanical properties arise from having a single chain of carbon atoms, the difference being that UHMWP is effectively that chain sheathed in hydrogen atoms, whereas carbyne is that chain sheathed in a separate molecule.

Lovely chemistry, usual premature guff about the 'real world' applications of that chemistry.

Edit. Incidentally UHMWPs are strong enough to build a lunar space elevator.

Well, carbyne has basically all double bonds along its chain while any polyethylene will be single bonds along the length. So you get an increase in strength there, but it's only as strong as its weakest link. That's the real problem with these materials, you need to have a perfect unbroken chain to keep those strength properties at the macro scale. I think a space elevator could easily be the longest molecule ever if it was built (maybe DNA is longer?). 

[Atlas2342]

12 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

Basically I'm getting flashbacks from watching videos at school about the new miracle materials of buckyballs and carbon nanotubes. Useful, interesting, cutting edge stuff, but its not like we aer zooming around in space elevators now is it.

But, but, not even a lunar one??

[todofwar]

22 minutes ago, Atlas2342 said:

But, but, were making progress...

True but nowadays you'd be hard-pressed to find anything thats not overhyped... and if you are still not impressed, there's more:

-Stretching carbyne as little as 10 percent alters its electronic band gap significantly.

-If outfitted with molecular handles at the ends, it can also be twisted to alter its band gap. With a 90-degree end-to-end rotation, it becomes a magnetic semiconductor.

-Carbyne chains can take on side molecules that may make the chains suitable for energy storage.

-The material is stable at room temperature, largely resisting crosslinks with nearby chains.

Oh I'm sure it will have plenty of uses, but none of those have anything to do with its strength. Materials chemists/engineers love to throw out these strength properties even though they're not what these things are actually useful for.

[Atlas2342]

1 minute ago, todofwar said:

Oh I'm sure it will have plenty of uses, but none of those have anything to do with its strength. Materials chemists/engineers love to throw out these strength properties even though they're not what these things are actually useful for.

Well, if its strong, that's already a big plus...

[magnemoe]

3 minutes ago, todofwar said:

Well, carbyne has basically all double bonds along its chain while any polyethylene will be single bonds along the length. So you get an increase in strength there, but it's only as strong as its weakest link. That's the real problem with these materials, you need to have a perfect unbroken chain to keep those strength properties at the macro scale. I think a space elevator could easily be the longest molecule ever if it was built (maybe DNA is longer?). 

as this would not be an single chain but more like an rope you don't need long unbroken treads, yes you need longer than 6000 atoms but 10 cm would be more than long enough. 

[todofwar]

52 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

as this would not be an single chain but more like an rope you don't need long unbroken treads, yes you need longer than 6000 atoms but 10 cm would be more than long enough. 

Well I don't know much about how weaved fibers compare to the strength of individual fibers so maybe. The other issue with these kinds of materials is you need them perfectly ordered from the nanoscale on up. That 10 cm long thread will tangle itself up into a ball smaller than a virus. 

[Bill Phil]

On April 19, 2016 at 6:59 AM, Kerbart said:

I love the irony that it’s apparently very hard to produce this super strong material without breaking it.

That's true with almost any strong material. Tempering a metal piece too much breaks it, but it must be done to lessen brittleness.