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Artificial diamond obtained at room temperature

23.11.2020

The new technology makes it possible to synthesize artificial diamonds without strong heating and obtain even the rarest lonsdaleite with especially strong crystals.

Under natural conditions, diamonds are formed deep in the bowels of the Earth. Its formation takes a long time, requires high pressure and heating above 1000 °C. It is possible to obtain synthetic diamonds faster, although the process still takes place at enormous pressures and temperatures. Scientists have learned to do without heating only now, having developed the synthesis of diamonds at ordinary room temperature.

Carbon atoms can form a variety of structures - from flat and black graphene to ultra-strong and transparent diamond. However, diamonds are also different: the particles in its crystals can be combined not only into a "classical" cubic, but also into a hexagonal crystal lattice, forming a special form of diamond - lonsdaleite. It is even more hard than cubic, but it is much less common in nature. Yes, and in the laboratory it is more difficult to obtain it.

However, an international team of scientists led by Australian National University professor Jody Bradby managed to synthesize both cubic and hexagonal diamonds without the use of high temperatures. As a rule, for this they try to artificially recreate the conditions of the earth's interior with their heat and enormous pressure. However, this time, physicists turned to another natural mechanism for the formation of diamonds - meteorite.

These crystals can indeed appear from carbon as a result of powerful impacts of celestial bodies, not only on Earth, but also in space. It is assumed that the temperature is not as important as the shear force, due to which different layers of the material experience a force directed in different directions. Imagine a strong push into a table with loose legs: the tabletop moves in one direction, the legs move in the opposite direction.

Therefore, the authors designed a setup that made it possible to act on a graphite sample with a powerful shear force and, at the same time, enormous pressure. After examining the sample under an electron microscope, they found diamond crystals. Cubic crystals formed the thinnest "capillary" between the layers of lonsdaleite. The process took only a few minutes, and the scientists hope that it can be finalized for industrial applications and mass synthesis of this incredibly durable material.

It is even possible that by further increasing the shear force, it will be possible to reduce the pressure required for the formation of crystals. So far, this requires about 80 GPa - as the authors note, "a pressure comparable to the weight of 640 African elephants balancing on the toe of a ballet pointe shoe."

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