Carbyne: from the elusive allotrope to stable carbon atom wires

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advancements in the research on Carbyne, an elusive sp-carbon allotrope, highlighting new perspectives on stable carbon atom wires and their potential applications.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress in understanding and synthesizing Carbyne and related sp-carbon nanostructures, emphasizing new research directions.

Findings

Recent synthesis of stable carbon atom wires

Advancements in understanding Carbyne's properties

New potential applications for sp-carbon nanostructures

Abstract

Besides graphite and diamond, the solid allotropes of carbon in sp2 and sp3 hybridization, the possible existence of a third allotrope based on the sp-carbon linear chain, the Carbyne, has stimulated researchers for a long time. The advent of fullerenes, nanotubes and graphene has opened new opportunities and nurtured the interest in novel carbon allotropes including linear structures. The efforts made in this direction produced a number of interesting sp-hybridized carbon molecules and nanostructures in the form of carbon-atom wires. We here discuss some of the new perspectives opened by the recent advancements in the research on sp-carbon systems.