Dear Colleagues,

Over the past few decades, carbon-based nanomaterials and, specifically, low-dimensional nanocarbon allotropes have revolutionized the field of materials science. The properties of carbon-based nanomaterials depend on their 3D nano-architecture. Differently hybridized carbon atoms are capable of forming graphite, diamond, graphene, carbyne chains, and many other specific allotropes. Each carbon allotrope has notably different structural, mechanical, and electronic properties.

Low-dimensional nanocarbon allotropes represent promising building blocks for both the nano-hybrid systems and for macroscopic assembly of emerging multifunctional composites, as they possess a unique nano-architecture, a set of chemical and physical properties, and abundant functionalities that are of great interest for high-end applications in the emerging fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

These low-dimensional carbon-based nanostructures are at the forefront of materials science and provide a platform for understanding the growth mechanisms and properties of nanostructures in general. Novel functionalized nanocarbonsnot only require a fundamental study on the materials but also an in-depth understanding of the modified structure-property relationship.

The "holy grail” of low-dimensional carbon allotropes, carbyne, represents a one-dimensional chain of carbon atoms that is highly reactive, making it very tricky to synthesize. Within the "Carbon Family", it is carbyne alone that is truly a one-dimensional sp-hybridized allotrope of carbon, having an infinitely long linear chain of carbon atoms. Carbyne-enriched nanomaterials have continued to attract much interest due to advanced mechanical and physicochemical properties, including a flexible dimensional structure, an extremely large surface area in relation to mass, and mechanical strength that has been predicted to be an order of magnitude higher than that of diamond. Carbyne is an example of how much remains unknown in science. The mechanism for the formation of the sp-hybridized carbon atoms still requires further clarification.

The main difference between nanomaterials and nanohybrids is that the former show a particular property in a single material (nanomaterial), while the latter show multiple properties in a single material (nanohybrid). The discovery and creation of new forms of carbon and nanohybrid systems have always opened doors to new science and technology. Recent has research demonstrated that the macroscopic self-assembly of low-dimensional nanocarbon allotropes occurs through Unified Templates.

Plasma-activated nano carbon allotrope surfaces demonstrate an enhanced surface energy and roughness and improved electrocatalytic activity, and these come with a set of desired surface properties and functionalities.

The following are examples of the numerous emerging applications of low-dimensional nanocarbon allotropes: advanced nano-bio sensors, supercapacitors, nanocarbon-based nanofluids for direct thermal solar absorption, multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generators, and electron transpiration cooling-based thermal management systems, which are cutting-edge technologies leading to advanced aerospace systems.

Nowadays, research on materials science is rapidly entering a data-driven age. Advanced approaches for the predictive design of nanocarbon-based multifunctional composites with unique properties are connected to deep materials informatics. In recent years, data science techniques have been applied to nanomaterials research and have demonstrated significant achievements due to their outstanding capability to effectively extract the significant data‑driven linkages from various input nanomaterials to create representative data of their output properties.

This data-driven approach is referred to as the fourth paradigm of science. The application of the data-driven approach opens up unprecedented possibilities for the predictive programming of the 3D nano-architecture of the low-dimensional nanocarbon allotropes-based nanostructured metamaterials at a fundamentally new level. The combined use of the surface acoustic wave tool-kit, heteroatom doping, and the data-driven carbon nanomaterials genome approach at the during the synthesis of functionalized nanocarbon-based multifunctional composites create a synergy effect that makes it possible to multiply the efficiency of the approaches used.

This Special Issue will focus on the most recent advances in synthesis and nano-hybridization techniques, advanced characterization, data-driven predictive designing, and high-end applications of low-dimensional nanocarbon-based multifunctional composites as well as nanohybrid systems.

Prof. Dr. Oguz Gulseren
Dr. Bergoi Ibarlucea
Prof. Dr. Haroldo Cavalcanti Pinto
Guest Editors

Dr. Alexander Lukin
Dr. Mariya Aleksandrova
Guest Editor Assistants

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• low-dimensional nano carbon allotropes
• carbon sp-chains stabilization
• composite modifications of carbyne-enriched nanomaterials
• ion-assisted pulse-plasma deposition
• magnetron sputtering
• nanoencapsulation
• heteroatom-doping
• plasma-driven functionalization
• nanoscale Chladni patterns
• Raman spectrum-based vibrational signature
• unified templates
• surface acoustic wave-assisted micro/nano manipulation
• directed self-assembly
• synchrotron-based characterization
• X-ray spectroscopy
• deep material informatics
• data-driven carbon nanomaterials genome approach