Polyyne rods
Polyyne rods are linear chains of carbon with alternating single and triple bonds. Like a lot of ethyne molecules linked together in series.
This makes for the physically thinnest possible rod for pushing and pulling.
Polyyne rods might be usable for:
- Rod logic – Related: reversible computing
- Sorting rotors like e.g. in the Acetylene sorting pump
- ... ?
Possible downsides:
- Quite a bit higher susceptibility to radiation damage than bulk gemstone-like compounds
- Higher difficulty in manufacturing (unclear, might not be the case)
There's a bit of etyne rod manipulation in the tooltip chemistry for the mechanosynthesis of diamond
as outlined in the tooltip cycle paper.
Related
These are proposed to serve a function in
- Acetylene sorting pumps
- Piezochemical mechanosynthesis of diamond. See: Tooltip cycle paper
- mechanical rod logic