What is "graphyne"

n. (context chemistry English) An allotrope of carbon, related to graphene, consisting of a plane of benzene rings, each connected to six others by acetylene moieties

Graphyne is a theorized allotrope of carbon. Its structure is one-atom-thick planar sheets of sp and sp-bonded carbon atoms arranged in crystal lattice. It can be seen as a lattice of benzene rings connected by acetylene bonds. Depending on the content of acetylene groups, graphyne can be considered a mixed hybridization, sp, where 1 < n < 2, and thus differs from the hybridization of graphene (considered pure sp) and diamond (pure sp).

The existence of graphyne was conjectured before 1960, and attracted attention after the discovery of fullerenes.

Although not yet synthesized, periodic graphyne structures and their boron nitride analogues were shown to be stable on the basis of first-principles calculations using phonon dispersion curves and ab-initio finite temperature, quantum mechanical molecular dynamics simulations.