Carbyne calculated to be 28 to 36% stronger than Graphene and twice as stiff

A new form of carbon, carbyne, is calculated to be twice as stiff as carbon nanotubes or graphene and about significantly stronger than graphene, carbon nanotubes and diamond.

Rice University researchers calculate that it takes around 10 nanoNewtons to break a single strand of carbyne.

Carbyne specific strength 6.0–7.5×10^7 N∙m/kg
Graphene specific strength 4.7–5.5×10^7 N∙m/ kg (Carbyne 28-36% stronger)
carbon nanotubes specific strength 4.3–5.0×10^7 N∙m/ kg (Carbyne 40-50% stronger)
diamond specific strength 2.5–6.5×10^7 N∙m/kg (Carbyne 15-140% stronger)

Carbyne has other interesting properties too. Its flexibility is somewhere between that of a typical polymer and double-stranded DNA. And when twisted, it can either rotate freely or become torsionally stiff depending on the chemical group attached to its end.

Perhaps most interesting is the Rice team’s calculation of carbyne’s stability. They agree that two chains in contact can react but there is an activation barrier that prevents this happening readily. “This barrier suggests the viability of carbyne in condensed phase at room temperature on the order of days,” they conclude.



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