Smallest Possible Diamonds Form Ultra-thin Nanothreads (1 of 3) (VIDEO)
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For the first time, scientists have discovered how to produce ultra-thin 'diamond nanothreads' that promise extraordinary properties, including strength and stiffness greater than that of today's strongest nanotubes and polymers. The threads have a structure that has never been seen before. A paper describing this discovery by a research team led by John V. Badding, a professor of chemistry at Penn State University, will be published in the 21 Sept. 2014 issue of the journal Nature Materials. The core of the nanothreads that Badding's team made is a long, thin strand of carbon atoms arranged just like the fundamental unit of a diamond's structure -- zig-zag 'cyclohexane' rings of six carbon atoms bound together, in which each carbon is surrounded by others in the strong triangular-pyramid shape of a tetrahedron.
Credit
John Badding lab, Penn State Univeristy
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