![]() "It didn't mean all that much until we examined it later on in Melbourne and in Canberra – and we realized that it was something very, very different."Īs for the applications of this crystal, Bradby says that it is unlikely to find its way onto any engagement ring. David McKenzie, a physics professor at the University of Sydney who was also part of the study, describes it as a little shoulder on the side of a peak. Using this device, they subjected the carbon to pressures up to 112 GPa at 400 degrees Celsius – less than half of what was previously used in an unsuccessful lab experiment – for two hours.Īnd since the lonsdaleite was so tiny, they almost missed seeing it. The pressure in this chamber, which consists of two flat-faced diamonds facing each other, is akin to what you'd find deep inside the Earth. To create the lonsdaleite, the researchers placed a piece of glassy carbon inside a diamond cell anvil, itself no stranger to creating ultra-hard materials. We've been able to make it at the nanoscale and this is exciting because often with these materials 'smaller is stronger,'" says Bradby. "The hexagonal structure of this diamond's atoms makes it much harder than regular diamonds, which have a cubic structure. According to lead researcher Jodie Bradby from the Australian National University (ANU), what makes this particular diamond so special is that it is the purest lonsdaleite ever found and even more remarkable is its nano-crystalline form, which could make it stronger than the ones that occur naturally. This new creation is part of a growing line of nanomaterials and synthetic crystals that have taken over the title of "world's hardest material" from diamonds over the years. ![]()
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