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Scientists Discover Diamond Nanothreads

Posted by timothy on from the this-nanoring-shows-how-much-I-care dept.

First time accepted submitter sokol815 writes Penn State University scientists discovered diamond nanothreads can be created from benzene when compressed. The compression brings the benzene molecules into a highly reactive state. It was expected that the molecules would create a non-ordered glass-like material, but due to the slow speed of decompression used, the benzene molecules ordered themselves into a naturally repeating crystal. The experiment took place at room-temperature. Early results indicate that these nanothreads are stronger than previously produced carbon nanotubes, and may have applications throughout the engineering industry.

3 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. How about "not diamond"? by justthinkit · · Score: 3, Informative

    How about "not diamond"?

    Diamond is characterized by each carbon bonding with 4 other carbons. You can't get a thread out of it. You might claim that you have, but all along that thread there will be carbons not bonded to four others. Those are called defects.

    From a diamond point-of-view, this stuff would be considered defect-laden pseudo-'diamond', or just simply not diamond.

    Still, sexy headline.

    --
    I come here for the love
    1. Re:How about "not diamond"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      The researchers themselves didn't use the D word but called the material "close- packed bundles of subnanometre-diameter sp3-bonded carbon threads capped with hydrogen, crystalline in two dimensions and short-range ordered in the third"

  2. Re:Yes, but.. by iggymanz · · Score: 5, Informative

    it's not diamond nor did the original paper claim it was: http://www.nature.com/nmat/jou...