The strongest material on Earth is generally considered to be graphene.
While "strongest" can be interpreted in different ways (tensile strength, compressive strength, etc.), graphene consistently ranks at the top due to its exceptional tensile strength. Here's a breakdown of why and some contenders:
Understanding Strength
It's important to differentiate between types of strength:
- Tensile Strength: Resistance to being stretched or pulled apart.
- Compressive Strength: Resistance to being crushed or compressed.
- Yield Strength: The amount of stress a material can withstand before undergoing permanent deformation.
- Hardness: Resistance to indentation or scratching.
A material can be "strong" in one aspect but not in another.
Graphene: The Tensile Strength Champion
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. Its exceptional properties stem from its unique structure:
- Atomic Thinness: Being only one atom thick allows for incredibly efficient bonding.
- Strong Carbon-Carbon Bonds: Covalent bonds between carbon atoms are exceptionally strong.
- Perfect Lattice Structure: In a perfect sample, there are no defects to weaken the material.
Graphene is estimated to be about 200 times stronger than steel by weight. This means a sheet of graphene would require 200 times the force to break as an equivalent weight of steel.
Other Strong Contenders
While graphene often takes the top spot for overall strength, other materials boast impressive properties:
- Lonsdaleite: A hexagonal allotrope of diamond, potentially harder than regular diamond in certain orientations. Its superior hardness is theorized, but consistent production for testing is challenging.
- Diamond: Renowned for its hardness and high compressive strength.
- Wurtzite Boron Nitride: Theoretically harder than diamond; like lonsdaleite, its existence and properties are largely based on simulations.
- Dyneema: An ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber known for its high tensile strength-to-weight ratio.
- Metallic Glass: Exhibits high strength, elasticity, and corrosion resistance, but can be brittle.
- Buckypaper: A macroscopic material composed of aggregates of carbon nanotubes, exhibiting impressive strength and electrical conductivity.
- Nanospheres/Nano-Kevlar: Composite materials leveraging nanoscale components for enhanced strength and impact resistance.
Why Graphene is Generally Considered the Strongest
Despite other materials possessing exceptional qualities, graphene's combination of ultra-high tensile strength and its nature as a single, well-defined material sets it apart. Research and development are continually pushing the boundaries of material science, so the "strongest material" could change in the future. However, as of now, graphene remains a leading contender for the title of the strongest material on Earth.
