Molecular carbon chains have attracted much interest for more than 130 years, but the length of chains is limited to 44 atoms even by sophisticated chemical synthesis. Recently, the artificial synthesis of long linear carbon chains, “carbynes,” has revived, and their existence was firmly substantiated using the latest advanced analytical methods, such as high-resolution electron microscopy and Raman scattering spectroscopy. Until the 1980s, graphite and diamond were the well-known allotropic forms of elemental carbon, which were two-dimensional (2D) and 3D crystals, respectively. Carbyne is the ultimate 1D nanowire with atomic diameter and its synthesis has opened prospects for versatile properties of carbon materials. Carbyne is a 1D semiconductor with a direct transition energy gap and interesting properties such as extreme mechanical strength are expected from it. This book comprehensively reviews and describes the latest chemical and physical synthesis methods, theoretically predicted properties, and possible applications of carbyne.

Yahachi Saito is an emeritus professor at Nagoya University, Japan. He received his doctorate in engineering from Nagoya University in 1980 and has held academic positions at Toyohashi University of Technology (1981–1985) and Mie University (1990–2004), Japan, in addition to Nagoya University (1985–1990, 2004–2018). He has also been a visiting scientist at AT&T Bell Laboratories, NJ, USA. He was a fellow at Toyota Physical and Chemical Research Institute, Aichi, Japan, from 2018 to 2022. Prof. Saito’s area of expertise encompasses the synthesis, characterization, and application of nanometer-scale materials, especially inorganic atomic clusters, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and graphene. He has studied CNT field emitters since 1996, collaborating with Noritake Itron Corp., Japan, since 1997 for the development of display devices using CNTs as a cold cathode. Prof. Saito is a recipient of several awards, including the Yazaki Arts and Science Award (2004), the Prize for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2006), the 2007 SID Distinguished Paper Award, and fellowship of the Japan Society of Applied Physics (2008). He has authored or co-authored 283 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and 6 books.