What element makes up 18% of the body by mass?
One element is the backbone of all forms of life we’ve ever discovered on Earth: carbon. Number six on the periodic table, to the best of our knowledge, is impossible to live without. Now here is the urging question: out of all the elements, why is carbon so basic to life? To answer it briefly, carbon has an extraordinary ability to form stable bonds with many elements including itself, leading to a wide range of structures. Carbon appears in numerous forms, called allotropes, which range from lustrous diamonds in engagement rings to the graphite in your pencil.
The purest form of carbon—the diamond—is known for its incredible hardness, defining the highest level on the Mohs hardness scale. It is so strong that many use diamonds as an industrial cutting tool or for quantum computing.
A newly discovered allotrope, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), are cylindrical structures stronger than steel and can conduct electricity better than copper—perfect for biomedical applications or for applications in aerospace and electronics. Its microscopic scale and conductive properties have presented the perfect material to make the conductive brain phantoms I used in my research. Similarly, carbon fibers are widely used in composite materials for aircraft, sports equipment, and cars, thanks to their high strength-to-weight ratio.
In the medical field, carbon-based materials are striking a large impact. For example, graphene’s flexibility and conductivity make it most utilizable in biosensors, which can monitor health conditions in real-time. In energy, carbon materials contribute to the development of more efficient batteries, solar cells, and even hydrogen fuel storage, helping drive the shift toward cleaner energy solutions.
All in all, carbon’s role in materials science is fundamental; first, it’s present in almost everything we touch! But its ability to form diverse structures with a range of beneficial properties makes it indispensable in both everyday materials and cutting-edge technologies. Whether it’s improving electronics, enabling lighter and stronger composites, or driving innovation in energy and medicine, carbon remains a key player in shaping the future.
To learn more about the element present in at least 10 million compounds, here’s a video
Another helpful, and quite detailed, resource: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/element/Carbon
Cover Image: Credits, https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/scientists-create-a-new-form-of-carbon
