Carbon nanobelts are “short” carbon nanotubes with a uniform structure. Because of its breathtaking beautiful structure and potential as a future molecule, the synthesis of a carbon nanobelt, comprising a closed-loop of fully fused edge-sharing flat benzene rings, has been an elusive goal in organic chemistry for more than 60 years, before discovery and synthesis of carbon nanotubes.

The research group succeeded in the bottom-up synthesis of carbon nanobelts for the first time in the world from para-xylene (one of the components of petroleum) as a starting material through a synthetic method they developed by themselves. Through various analyses of carbon nanobelt (x-ray crystallo- graphy, UV absorption, Raman spectroscopy, etc.), this molecule could potentially serve as a seed for the preparation of structurally well-defined carbon nanotubes. In addition, carbon nanobelt was commercialized in 2018, and researchers around the world are conducting applied research by using this molecule.

Molecules that will revolutionize the future nanocarbon science

Carbon nanobelts are a new form of carbon that no one has ever seen before. As the history of the soccer ball-shaped fullerene (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1996) proves, a beautiful and new shaped molecule led to unpredictable functions, applications, and/or development at the time of discovery. Carbon nanobelt is expected to expand its areas of activity by leaving its home, ITbM. We believe “Functions follow Forms.”

Reference:

"Synthesis of a Carbon Nanobelt" by Guillaume Povie, Yasutomo Segawa, Taishi Nishihara, Yuhei Miyauchi, Kenichiro Itami, Science 2017, 356, 172. DOI: 10.1126/science.aam8158

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