Synthesis takes the pressure off carbon nanothreads

Abstract

Carbon nanothreads are high-strength polymers typically made by squeezing tiny samples of benzene or pyridine in diamond anvil cells under enormous pressures of 23–30 GPa. But this method can produce only nanogram batches of nanothreads—a major roadblock to exploiting their properties. Researchers have now found a way to produce these nanothreads at one-half to one-third the pressures required previously, scaling up their synthesis so they can be investigated in more detail ( ACS Nano 2021, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c10400 ). By using liquid furan as the starting material, Elizabeth Elacqua of Pennsylvania State University and her team can make carbon-based nanothreads at just 10 GPa with a piece of equipment called a Paris-Edinburgh press. Furan has far less aromatic stabilization than benzene and more readily undergoes cycloaddition reactions to build the polymer. The press is larger than a diamond anvil cell and can produce about 5 mg of nanothreads in each run.