Diamondiyne:
Scientists have created a new form of carbon called diamondiyne.
- Diamondiyne is a newly synthesized, three-dimensional carbon allotrope.
- It consists of a three-dimensional network of carbon atoms that resembles a diamond but with a more open structure.
- It is created using relatively inexpensive equipment, with the material forming as a thin film where two liquids meet.
- The researchers describe diamondiyne as a carbo-mer of diamond: diyne units are inserted between carbon centres in the diamond-topology network, expanding the structure.
- Structure:
- Diamondiyne crystallizes with the carbon atoms arranged as tetrahedra connected corner to corner in all three dimensions.
- It preserves the overall diamond-like topology but incorporates carbon atoms with different bonding arrangements.
- The ideal diamondiyne model has a face-centred cubic crystal structure, with sp and sp³ carbon in an 8-to-1 ratio.
- The structure combines sp-hybridised carbon atoms, which participate in triple bonds, with sp³-hybridised carbon atoms connected through single bonds.
- The resulting diyne groups expand the repeating network compared with diamond, creating more space within the structure. (The ‘y’ in the material’s name comes from the presence of carbon-carbon triple bonds.)
