C is a pretty awing element and unadulterated atomic number 6 structures have a variety of purpose and properties . From the unbelievable hardness of diamonds to the versatility of the graphite in our pencil , carbon is wonderfully various . Two - dimensional structure are also incredible and include things like graphene , carbon nanotube , and fullerene , showcasing a range of useful properties . Now a newfangled 2D C anatomical structure has been key out .
It is call schwarzite and has been predicted and modeled for decades , but only now have researchers been able to produce it . And not on use . The new structure was create by scientists in South Korea and Japan by fill up a particular eccentric of silicon dioxide watch crystal ( sand ) , make out as a zeolite , with carbon paper . The creators were enquire whether these carbon - filled zeolite would have interesting properties .
An international team lead by researchers at the University of California , Berkeley have test that the three structures created by the Japanese - Korean team are indeed the long - sought - after schwarzites . Their determination are published in theProceeding of the National Academy of Sciences .
The important belongings of a schwarzite is its curvature . Graphene is a compressed sail so it has zero curve . Fullerenes , also known as buckyballs ( from the full name buckyball ) , are convex structures with confident curvature . Schwarzites are the first carbon structures with negative curve and are shaped a minute like saddle . Schwarzites have the smallest area for their form .
The team build a computer simulation of the zeolite crystal and modeled how the atomic number 6 atoms could be arranged . The study showed that of the 200 zeolite make to date , only 15 can be used as a template to make schwarzite . But researchers think that there are over a million possible ways to make a zeolite , so there could be many more room to make a schwarzite .
" These negatively - curved carbon have been very grueling to synthesize on their own , but it flex out that you may develop the carbon film catalytically at the surface of a zeolite , " lead author Efrem Braun , from UC Berkeley , say in astatement . " But the schwarzites synthesize to day of the month have been made by choosing zeolite guide through trial and error . We provide very bare instructions you’re able to follow to rationally make schwarzites and we show that , by choosing the good zeolite , you’re able to tune up schwarzites to optimise the properties you want . "
Schwarzites are particularly suit to storing a large galvanising burster , making them effective capacitors . They can also be constructed in way that give up them to stack away other molecules , or even act as catalysts . likewise to graphene , find an effective , high - quality , and cost - effective style to raise the body structure will be key to its commercialization .
