Category
Materials Science
Explore the 3 entries currently assigned to this category. These counts describe this curated catalogue, not the size or rate of change of the field itself.
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Not a fact anymore
A stable material only one atom thick cannot exist on its own.
What we know now
Graphene—a sheet of carbon only one atom thick—and many other two-dimensional materials can exist as stable, free-standing or supported layers only one atomic layer thick.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Materials Science
- Accepted for
- ≈54 years
- Changed approximately
- 2004–2010
Not a fact anymore
Every crystal must have a periodically repeating atomic pattern.
What we know now
A crystal can be highly ordered without repeating the same atomic pattern over and over. Quasicrystals have this nonrepeating order, yet they still produce the sharp diffraction patterns characteristic of crystals.
- Status
- Superseded
- Category
- Materials Science
- Accepted for
- ≈132 years
- Changed approximately
- 1982–1992
Not a fact anymore
Polymers and plastics are necessarily electrical insulators.
What we know now
Most common polymers are electrical insulators, but some can conduct. Conjugated polymers have chains in which electrons can spread across connected bonds, and chemical doping can add or remove charge carriers and raise their conductivity dramatically.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Materials Science
- Accepted for
- ≈131 years
- Changed approximately
- 1977–1980s
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