世界上最强的材料--碳炔 其抗拉强度是石墨烯的2倍

据美国工程（engineering）网站报道，赖斯大学的计算模型证明碳炔是世界上最强的材料。

在过去几个世纪里，材料工程师一直致力于发展更强大的材料。金属曾经一马当先，而在最近几十年里纳米材料证明他们是地球上最强的材料。

根据赖斯大学发布的新闻稿，"碳炔是碳原子聚集在一起形成的链，这些碳原子通过双键或者交替的单键和三键连接在一起。"

就是这个简单的结构，碳炔已被证明比钢强200多倍，是石墨烯抗拉强度的2倍，石墨烯是前一届的纳米材料强度冠军。

"你可以把它看作一个薄到极限的石墨烯条带，厚度减少到只有一个原子，或者薄到极限的纳米管，"赖斯大学机械工程教授Boris Yakobson说，"这可能对纳米机械系统有用，在自旋电子元件中作为传感器，作为强、轻机械应用材料或用于能源存储。"

虽然碳炔过去已经在室温下合成，科学家们还没有找到一个方法来批量生产该材料。如果这个突破可以实现，这个新时代的轻、强的材料将会影响地球和太空中的产业。

（中国航空工业发展研究中心   胡燕萍）

原文参考：

The World’s Strongest Material

Computer models at Rice University prove that Carbyne is the world’s strongest material.

For the past century materials engineers have been developing materials that are ever stronger. While a focus on metals led the charge, in recent decades nano-materials are proving themselves to be among the strongest materials on Earth.

According to a Rice press release, "Carbyne is a chain of carbon atoms held together by either double or alternating single and triple atomic bonds."

With this simple structure, carbyne has proven itself to be some 200 times stronger than steel and has double the tensile strength of graphene, the previous champion of nanomaterials.

"You could look at it as an ultimately thin graphene ribbon, reduced to just one atom, or an ultimately thin nanotube," said Boris Yakobson professor of Mechanical Engineering at Rice. "It could be useful for nanomechanical systems, in spintronic devices, as sensors, as strong and light materials for mechanical applications or for energy storage."

Although carbyne has been synthesized at room temperature in the past, scientists have yet to find a method to produce the material in bulk. If that breakthrough could be achieved, a new era of light, strong materials could impact industries both here on Earth and up in space.