Carbyne is the newest contender for the strongest material in the world

[Perspicuo]

C&EN: Carbyne Predicted To Be Strongest Known Material
http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/web/2013/10/Carbyne-Predicted-Strongest-Known-Material.html

According to theoretical calculations, one-dimensional strings of carbon atoms called carbyne should be stronger than any known material—if experimentalists can figure out how to make it in bulk (ACS Nano 2013, DOI: 10.1021/nn404177r). The researchers predict that the carbon allotrope also could have novel electrical and magnetic properties that would be useful in computing systems.

The concept of carbyne is not new, but the new computational predictions are the most comprehensive yet, says Rik R. Tykwinski, a chemist at the Friedrich-Alexander University, in Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, who was not involved with the work.

{CAPTION:
The Strongest Chain?
Strings of carbon atoms called carbyne are predicted to be stronger than any known material, including graphene. This illustration shows a chain of the material and its highest-occupied molecular orbital (yellow and green).
Credit: Vasilii I. Artyukhov}

ScienceAlert: World's strongest material acts like a tiny transistor
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20140108-25959.html

Graphene is a pure carbon material that’s just one atom thick. It’s 100 times stronger than steel, incredibly light, and it’s super-efficient at conducting heat and electricity. It’s a true wonder-material, but now there’s a new wonder-material in town: carbyne.

While graphene is made up of a two-dimensional layer of atoms, carbyne is made up of a single chain of carbon atoms, and according to Sarah Zhang at Gizmodo, by a recent measure, it's the new strongest material in the world.

Researchers at Rice University in the US have been investigating the potential of carbyne, and through computer modelling discovered that if they stretched this material by just 3 percent, it becomes an insulator instead of a conductor. This switch between insulating and conducting is exactly what transistors do, and transistors are the essential building blocks of modern electronics. This means carbyne could be used to make minuscule transistors to fit into new nanoscale electronics for use in medicine or to develop new energy solutions.

 

[barbos]

The problem is, it is strong as long nothing touches it.
Same problem with nanotube's high conductivity, it only works if nanotube is hanging in empty space, of course you can make it mostly hanging but this will not work for carbyne because it will break the moment you touch it.