On-surface synthesis of one-dimensional carbyne-like nanostructures with sp-carbon

Carbyne is an infinite one-dimensional carbon chain comprising of sp-hybridized carbons. Due to its high chemical reactivity and extreme instability, the synthesis and structural diversity of carbyne have been much less investigated in the past decades compared to carbon allotropes built with sp² hybridized carbons, such as fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. The emerging on-surface synthesis strategy provides an extremely promising approach for the fabrication of novel carbyne-like nanostructures with atomic precision. Herein, we summarize recent exciting progress in the synthesis of carbyne-like nanostructures with one-dimensional sp-carbon on surfaces, including polyynes, cumulenes, and organometallic polyynes. We also point out the scientific challenges and prospects, encouraging scientists to explore the fabrication and characterization of single strands of carbyne in this young and promising research field.