Material created in lab is the most expensive thing on Earth — worth $167 million per gram

Ancient artifacts and rare works of art are often put up for auctions, but the most expensive thing being created in a lab is something truly unexpected. In 2015, a group of Oxford scientists at Designer Carbon Material auctioned off a sample of the material that they created for £22,000 ($33,400). This sample was that of a rare powder weighing one-fifteenth the weight of a snowflake or one-third the weight of a human hair. Appearing like a tiny pinch of salt, the powder is so precious that the University of Oxford has called it “the most expensive thing on Earth.” They also cautioned people against sneezing while they are handling the powder.

Known as “Nitrogen Atom-Based Endohedral Fullerenes,” the rare material costs £110 million ($167 million) per gram. According to ScienceAlert, endohedral fullerenes were first discovered in 1985. These spherical carbon nanostructures consist of a fullerene cage of about 60 carbon atoms, inside which molecules of non-metals are trapped. These non-metals are usually nitrogen, phosphorus, or helium. According to ScienceDirect, spherical fullerenes are also called “buckyballs.” Buckyball clusters or buckyballs composed of less than 300 carbon atoms are known as endohedral fullerenes and include the most common fullerene called “Buckminsterfullerene.” The word “fullerene” comes from the name of an American architect, Buckminster Fuller, who designed geodesic domes that inspired the structure of the fullerene molecule, which is in the form of several interlocking triangles.

When these fullerene clusters trap nitrogen molecules within, they turn into something priceless. Because of the long electron spin of nitrogen, the fullerenes offer valuable possibilities for creating atomic clocks that could be fitted into a pant pocket. Typical atomic clocks are the size of an entire room, as the University of Oxford notes. So, these clocks would remarkably change the way people keep track of time.

In addition to this, since atomic clocks are key components of GPS systems, these new microchip-sized clocks would prove to be a noteworthy breakthrough in how automobiles and navigation devices are constructed, further opening up possibilities for driverless cars.

“Imagine a miniaturized atomic clock that you could carry around in your smartphone. This is the next revolution for mobile,” Designer Carbon Materials founder, Kyriakos Porfyrakis, told The Telegraph. "At the moment, atomic clocks are room-sized. This endohedral fullerene would make it work on a chip that could go into your mobile phone," Lucius Cary, director of the Oxford Technology SEIS fund, and holds a minor stake in Designer Carbon Materials, told The Telegraph.

The only other material that could compete with endohedral fullerene in terms of price, is “antimatter,” which NASA estimates would cost about $61 trillion per gram. However, unlike this precious powder, antimatter isn’t up for sale yet. “We're still several years away from mini atomic clocks going into our portable devices, but the consortium of UK and US researchers that bought their first sample of endohedral fullerene is on the case,” Kyriakos told Ars Technical.