China produces pure hexagonal diamond and claims superior hardness over regular diamond
TL;DR
Chinese researchers created small, pure hexagonal diamond (lonsdaleite) samples and demonstrated that it is stiffer and harder than cubic diamond and more oxidation-resistant; the 1.5 mm samples were formed by compressing organized graphite at about 20 GPa for 10 hours and heating to roughly 1,300–1,900°C, with the work published in Nature, indicating a feasible bulk production method and potential industrial applications in drilling, cutting, and thermal management.
Topics:sciencephysics-and-mathematics#diamond#hardness#hexagonal-diamond#lonsdaleite#materials-science#physics-and-mathematics
- In physics first, Chinese scientists create rare 'hexagonal diamond' that's harder than natural diamond Live Science
- Fresh claim of making elusive ‘hexagonal’ diamond is the strongest yet Scientific American
- Nature: Sun Jian's team unveils the formation mechanism of hexagonal diamond and achieves bulk synthesis nju.edu.cn
- Diamonds Are Even More Forever as Scientists Create Special Harder Variety Newsweek
- Researchers Create a New Form of Diamond Harder Than Steel cedarkeybeacon.com
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