Chinese researchers from Jilin University, under the supervision of Professor Liu Bingbing and Professor Yao Mingguang, have succeeded in synthesizing an ultra-hard hexagonal diamond known as "lonsdaleite" in the laboratory.
According to the results published in the journal Nature Materials, the synthetic crystal is about 40% harder than natural diamond.
Lonsdaleite is a rare form of carbon with a hexagonal crystal structure, first discovered in the Canyon Diablo meteorite in Arizona in 1967. Unlike ordinary diamonds, which have a cubic lattice, the hexagonal structure of lonsdaleite gives it unique properties.
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Previously, lonsdaleite had only been found in small quantities at meteorite impact sites, limiting its practical applications. However, Chinese scientists have succeeded in synthesizing near-pure hexagonal diamonds by heating compressed graphite under specific temperature gradients.
Distinctive characteristics of innovative synthetic diamonds:
The crystals produced can withstand temperatures up to 1100 degrees Celsius .
Its hardness is approximately 155 gigapascals (GPa).
For comparison, natural diamond has a hardness of about 100 gigapascals, and its thermal stability is only up to 700 degrees Celsius.
These properties make synthetic diamond a promising material for industrial applications, especially in fields that require extremely hard materials, such as cutting and polishing.
