[Mitch]

We are all familiar with the other 4 types to various degrees: diamond, graphite, buckminsterfullerenes, and nanotubes, but now a new type coined nanofoam has been created.

The new type of carbon is magnetic! Which is a real surprise for carbon, although some magnetic carbon compounds are known, but involve some chemicial manipulation prior to its magnetic effects to take into effect.

You can read more here: http://www.nature.com/nsu/040322/040322-5.html

[gregpawin]

Have you read about that other supposed allotrope called carbynes?  The sp hybridized carbon allotrope where they're trying to make sp bonds the dominant form... which makes all the carbons like rods of alternating triple and single bonds.  I've read some stuff about it and not sure what to make of it; or perhaps the chemistry community have already written it off.  It's supposed to be really unstable.

Cool site about carbon allotropes:
http://www.dendritics.com/scales/c-allotropes.asp

They say there are many more allotropes than we know.

[Sandra]

Ok just a quick rant....  What's up w/ the name nanofoam??? I didn't finish reading the article b/c the name just completely throws me off!  Ok, maybe if I con't reading the article some explanation will be given about the name...but it didn't seem so.

Nanofoam.... ummm. So is it foamy? If so, that means the scientists were able to see this foam, therefore its not nano, is it? But of course nano is attached to anything to hype it up.  That's my two nano cents.

[gregpawin]

Yeah i'm wondering about the foamy tag on there.  Foam implies some amorphous hetergenous blob... I'm sure at that level they can see some patterns or at least call it a random structure.

Speaking of Foamy, here's Foamy the Squirrel:
http://www.illwillpress.com/vault.html

[AWK]

Moreover, carbon shows probably more allotropes: chaotite (amorphous) and superdense crystalline carbon or C8 (see JACS 111  (1989), 810-19 - discussed by Roald Hoffmann)


AWK

[AWK]

superdense crystalline carbon or C8 - proposed structure:

[AWK]

superdense crystalline carbon or C8 -structure suggested by  R.B. Woodward:

[Corvettaholic]

The article at nature.com is linkdead, is there a reprint anywhere? I just found this thread and I would love to read the article.

[Mitch]

The link works?

[Corvettaholic]

Weird, it all of a sudden works, and didn't work the couple of times I tried it this morning. Maybe the server problem is on my end? Anyways, interesting article. But the "nano-foam" only retains magnetic properties for a couple hours, how would you store it? It'd be really expensive to produce on the fly.