Record-breaking hexagon made out of fused aromatic rings

Chemists have made the biggest network structure of its kind, a giant hexagon made out of 90 fused aromatic rings. This is almost double the size of the previous record holder, a 54-ring structure reported in 2018.

Fused aromatic networks (Fans) are a more chemically diverse alternative to perforated graphene. As the flat honeycomb structures are synthesised from node and linker monomers, chemists can fine-tune their properties – for example by using monomers containing heteroatoms.