Recent Advances in sp-Carbon-Based Materials and Nanostructures

Dear Colleagues,

In the last 30 years, carbon materials and nanostructures have played a relevant and increasing role in science and technology. Among them, carbyne, the lacking allotrope consisting of sp-hybridized carbon atoms, and finite-lenght sp-carbon nanostructures raised significant interest in the past, which is now progressively increasing also in connection with the new hybrid sp–sp² materials investigated in the last 10 years (graphynes, graphdiyne, and related systems). Sp-carbon-based materials are of potential interest for future applications in molecular electronics, optoelectronics, energy conversion and storage, catalysis, as a possible alternative to overcome the limitations of the presently employed materials.

Different chemical and physical strategies have been developed to produce sp-carbon nanostructures, and many characterization techniques have been adopted to investigate their properties, also including a large number of computational and theoretical works. The possibility to tune their electronic and optical properties on the basis of their peculiar molecular structure, the subtle interplay between intra- and intermolecular effects, and their exotic properties are intriguing, and many questions still need an answer.    

The aim of this Special Issue is to present the last achievements obtained in the research on sp-carbon-based materials (polyynes, cumulenes, linear carbon chains, carbon atomic wires) and related systems (hybrid sp–sp² or sp–sp³ systems). Both experimental (synthesis, preparation, characterization, applications) and theoretical contributions (molecular modeling and design) are welcome and, in particular, studies presenting a multidisciplinary approach are encouraged.

Dr. Alberto Milani
Prof. Dr. Carlo Casari
Guest Editors

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