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Freedom251 › Blog › carbon allotropes

Have Scientists Found 43 New Forms of Carbon? What the Prediction Really Means

By Freedom251 Team · · 3 min read

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No: the 43 forms of carbon in a 2019 report were computational predictions, not 43 materials scientists had discovered in nature or made in a lab. A University at Buffalo team led by Eva Zurek predicted the structures; calculations suggested three might be slightly harder than single-crystal diamond. That hardness has not been established by experimental measurements.

What did the 2019 report actually claim?

Chemistry World reported on 23 September 2019 that a team led by Eva Zurek at the University at Buffalo had predicted 43 previously unidentified carbon structures. The key word is predicted: these were proposed arrangements of carbon atoms, not 43 experimentally discovered allotropes.

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The calculations suggested that three of the predicted structures could be slightly harder than single-crystal diamond. This is a theoretical comparison, not a measured result for a synthesized material. Zurek told Chemistry World that, once their properties were better understood, the structures “could provide interesting synthesis targets.” The report therefore presented them as possible goals for future experiments, not as materials ready to handle or buy.

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Why does “43 new kinds of carbon” need a qualification?

Carbon allotropes are distinct structural forms of the same element. A computational prediction can identify a plausible arrangement and estimate properties, but it does not establish that the structure exists in nature, can be produced in a laboratory, or remains stable under real-world conditions. Those are separate questions for further theoretical work and experiments.

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The count of 43 belongs to that team’s particular study and search method. It is not a census of every carbon structure that might be possible. The headline phrase “out there to find” is a readable way to describe potential discoveries, but it should not be taken as evidence that these exact structures had already been found in nature.

What did later computational searches find?

Subsequent studies explored other parts of the possible carbon-structure landscape with different methods and assumptions. Their counts are not updates to, or additions to, the 2019 set of 43.

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Study Reported result What the number means
University at Buffalo team, reported in 2019 43 predicted previously unidentified structures; three were calculated to be potentially slightly harder than single-crystal diamond. A study-specific set of computational predictions, not 43 synthesized materials. Chemistry World, 23 September 2019.
Topological-generation study, 2021 224 new stable hypothetical allotropes compared with the SACADA database, including 184 with topologies not previously found in crystal structures. Results within a defined computational search around diamond-like structures, not an exhaustive search of all carbon configurations. npj Computational Materials, 2021.
Triply periodic surface study, 2026 78 candidates generated, 30 assessed as stable by density functional theory, and 19 described as novel. A separate candidate set and method; these counts are not cumulative totals of known or synthesized allotropes. Computational Materials Science, 2026.

The 2021 search was bounded, not exhaustive

The 2021 study began with six parent structures and generated candidates by exploring their topology. Its authors explicitly said they had not “walked around the whole CS of the carbon system”: they searched a region around diamond-like structures at a chosen level of topological complexity. They noted that exploring greater structural complexity and broader energy limits would be needed for a more exhaustive search.

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The study also reported 43 stable hypothetical allotropes in its first generation, nine of which were already in SACADA. That is a different 43 from the 2019 report: the date, method, candidate set, and meaning of the count differ.

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Does a predicted harder-than-diamond structure have to be stable?

No. Hardness and stability describe different properties. A structure may be calculated to resist deformation yet still sit at relatively high energy compared with a more stable form. The 2021 study illustrates the distinction: its hardest generated allotrope was denser than diamond, but had much higher relative lattice energy. The authors caution that “high hardness does not intend high stability.”

For any proposed carbon material, the evidence needs to be read across several separate questions:

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  • Evidence stage: Is it a theoretical proposal, a computationally assessed candidate, a synthesized sample, or an experimentally characterized material?
  • Stability: What reference state and energy comparison does the study use?
  • Mechanical properties: Are hardness and related properties calculated or measured?
  • Search scope: Which starting structures, bonding arrangements, complexity limits, and energy ranges were considered?
  • Feasibility: Is there a proposed route to synthesis, and has anyone demonstrated it?
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Have any of the original 43 been synthesized?

The 2019 news report does not establish that any of its 43 exact predicted structures were synthesized or experimentally tested. Its account describes synthesis as a future possibility. The later studies summarized above use their own methods and candidate sets; their results alone do not show that a structure from the original 43 has been made.

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So the accurate takeaway is not that scientists found 43 new kinds of carbon. A team predicted 43 candidate structures, and the calculations singled out three as potentially very hard. Whether any exact candidate can be made, and whether its measured properties match the predictions, is a separate experimental question.

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