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posted by martyb on Wednesday November 09 2016, @08:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the Sade-would-dig-these-Diamond-Life-threads dept.

Would you dress in diamond nanothreads? It's not as far-fetched as you might think. And you'll have a Brisbane-based carbon chemist and engineer to thank for it.

QUT's [Queensland University of Technology. ] Dr Haifei Zhan is leading a global effort to work out how many ways humanity can use a newly-invented material with enormous potential -- diamond nanothread (DNT).

First created by Pennsylvania State University last year, one-dimensional DNT is similar to carbon nanotubes, hollow cylindrical tubes 10,000 times smaller than human hair, stronger than steel -- but brittle.

"DNT, by comparison, is even thinner, incorporating kinks of hydrogen in the carbon's hollow structure, called Stone-Wale (SW) transformation defects, which I've discovered reduces brittleness and adds flexibility," said Dr Zhan, from QUT's School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering.

"That structure makes DNT a great candidate for a range of uses. It's possible DNT may become as ubiquitous a[s] plastic in the future, used in everything from clothing to cars.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 10 2016, @02:39AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 10 2016, @02:39AM (#424965)

    Is this a candidate for the tension member of a space elevator, out to geosynchronous orbit?

    Last I read about this, the problem was that the "rope" wasn't strong enough to hold up its own weight...