RESEARCH BRIEFINGS

28 October 2026

Ribbons that are composed exclusively of five- and seven-carbon rings have metal-like electron transport and conductance. The ribbons can be synthesized by linking previously inaccessible chains of paired five-membered rings, providing a route to making highly conducting carbon nanoribbons.

This is a summary of: Huang, J. et al . Narrow carbon pentaheptite nanoribbon as a covalent metal. Nature 658 , 1176–1182 (2026) .

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-03298-3

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