Graphynes and graphdyines

In this paper, the experimental and theoretical results that may give an insight into the current status and possible prospects of the family of (sp(1) + sp(2)) hybridized carbon allotropes: graphynes (GYs) and graphdiynes (GDYs), are reviewed. These allotropes, which can form a rich variety of 0D-3D forms and demonstrate a set of distinguished properties, have attracted now increased attention and research interest as promising materials, which can compete in various potential applications with conventional sp(2) carbon systems such as fullerenes, nanotubes or graphene and meet the increasing requirements to carbon-based nanomaterials. It can be seen from the increasing number of publications in the last five years that the interest in GYs and GDYs rapidly grows, and a lot of new results have been obtained today. For example, a set of 0D-3D forms of GYs and GDYs have been successfully synthesized and (or) predicted theoretically, and their key properties (structural, mechanical, electronic etc.) have been measured or estimated from ab initio calculations. This gives a strong impetus to further progress in applications of GYs and GDYs as materials for nanoelectronics, energy storage, as anode materials in batteries, as membranes for facilitating selective gas separation etc. All these efforts promote the expansion of the palette of promising carbon materials and accelerate the development of modern carbon-based technologies. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.