Diamond nanothreads

“Diamond nanothreads” promise extraordinary properties, including strength and stiffness greater than that of today’s strongest nanotubes and polymers. The core of the nanothreads is a long, thin strand of carbon atoms arranged just like the fundamental unit of a diamond’s structure — zig-zag “cyclohexane” rings of six carbon atoms bound together, in which each carbon is surrounded by others in the strong triangular-pyramid shape of a tetrahedron. The threads, made for the first time by a team led by John V. Badding of Penn State University, have a structure that has never been seen before.

Source: Smallest Possible Diamonds Form Ultra-thin Nanothreads (Penn State Science)