A new discovery makes graphene look a lot weaker now. Australian researchers have discovered that diamond nanothreads (one-dimensional diamond crystals capped with hydrogen) could be extremely strong. This ultra-thin diamond nanothread is a 1D structure with poly-benzene sections connected by Stone-Wales (SW) transformation defects.

What this basically means is that if mixed with the right amount of defects, these nanothreads become supremely flexible and durable. This will potentially allow one to create nanoscopic structures that cater to how strong you require them to be, with a ‘perfect’ mix of bendy and rigid shapes.

“Its highly tunable ductility [...]