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Scientists have not reported finding 43 new forms of carbon in nature. In 2019, a University at Buffalo team led by Eva Zurek predicted 43 previously unidentified carbon structures using calculations. Three were predicted to be potentially slightly harder than single-crystal diamond, but that comparison was not an experimental measurement.
What the 43 carbon forms actually are
The number comes from a 2019 report by Chemistry World about computational work by researchers led by University at Buffalo chemist Eva Zurek. The team predicted 43 carbon structures that had not previously been identified.
These are theoretical candidates, not 43 materials confirmed in nature or made in a laboratory. A calculated structure can suggest what atoms might form and help researchers choose experiments, but it does not establish that the structure can be synthesized, handled, or tested. Zurek said the structures could become interesting synthesis targets once their properties are better understood.
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How to read the “harder than diamond” claim
Three of the 43 structures were calculated to be potentially slightly harder than single-crystal diamond, according to the 2019 report. “Potentially” matters: the comparison describes a prediction, not hardness measured on a synthesized sample.
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Hardness is also only one property a candidate material needs to have. Researchers would need to establish whether a structure is energetically stable, whether it can be made, and how its properties hold up in experiments. A striking predicted property alone does not answer those questions.
Why later studies report different numbers
Carbon-allotrope searches use different starting structures, computational methods, and limits on which structures they explore. Their counts describe their own candidate sets; they are not successive additions to a single verified inventory.
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| Study | Reported result | What the result means |
|---|---|---|
| University at Buffalo team, reported by Chemistry World, 2019 | 43 predicted previously unidentified carbon structures; three potentially slightly harder than single-crystal diamond | Computational predictions, not a count of experimentally discovered materials. |
| Topological-generation study, 2021 | 224 new stable hypothetical allotropes compared with SACADA; 184 had topologies not previously found in crystal structures | A computational search within a defined region of carbon-structure space, not an exhaustive census. |
| Triply periodic surfaces study, 2026 | 78 candidate structures generated, 30 assessed as stable by density functional theory, and 19 characterized as novel | A separate computational method and candidate set, not a cumulative count of known or synthesized forms. |
The 2021 study also reported 43 stable hypothetical allotropes in its first generation, nine of which were already in SACADA. That is a separate study-specific result and is not the same 43 as the 2019 prediction.
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Why no search count is a total for all possible carbon
The 2021 authors explicitly cautioned that their search did not cover the entire carbon configuration space. It explored a region around diamond-like structures at a chosen level of topological complexity. Expanding the complexity and energy ranges could reveal other candidates, but the study does not claim to have enumerated every possible carbon structure.
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Consequently, “43” is best understood as the result of one computational search, not a complete count of new carbon forms waiting to be found. The figures from 2019, 2021, and 2026 should not be added together: they come from different approaches, definitions, and scopes.
Hardness and stability answer different questions
The 2021 study illustrates why a predicted superhard material is not automatically a practical one. Its hardest generated allotrope was denser than diamond, but it also had a much higher relative lattice energy. The authors cautioned that high hardness does not imply high stability.
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For any proposed carbon form, keep these questions separate:
- Evidence stage: Is it a theoretical prediction, a computationally assessed candidate, a synthesized material, or an experimentally characterized one?
- Mechanical properties: Are hardness and density calculated, or measured on a sample?
- Energetic stability: What reference state and energy comparison does the study use?
- Feasibility: Is there a plausible synthesis route, and has anyone demonstrated it?
Have any of the original 43 been synthesized?
The 2019 news report describes the 43 as predicted structures and discusses synthesis as a future possibility. It does not establish that any specific member of that set has since been synthesized. Without a structure-by-structure experimental result, the status of the original candidates should be treated as unresolved rather than as confirmed discoveries.
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