A team of Chinese scientists could break the secret for the Strange Canyon Diablo diamonds. The process of hexagonal, not cubic shape, which causes these diamonds to be formed, has remained rude so far.
Diamonds are usually made of carbon atoms in a cubic arrangement (for example, but there is a less frequent form, hexagonal diamond (atoms stacked in a honeycomb model), which seems to occur when meteorites strike into the ground, creating high heat and pressure.
The very first hexagonal diamond was found in the Diablo Canyon meteorite, which is believed to have struck the Earth about 50,000 years ago and landed in the present Arizona.
A joint team of high pressure at the Center for High Pressure and Technology and the XIAN Institute of Optics and precision mechanics of the XIAN Academy of Sciences said they had restored the mysterious “meteorite diamond” in the laboratory.
The mysteries of the meteorite
Most diamonds are falsified almost 90 miles (150 kilometers) below the Earth’s surface, where temperatures can reach more than 2000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,093 degrees Celsius). The temperature and pressure at this depth force the carbon atoms to arrange cubic shapes.
On the contrary, the diablo canyon meteorite contains strange, alien diamonds formed through a violent path to Earth. The diamonds inside the meteorite have a hexagonal crystal structure called Lonsdalitis. This crystal structure makes diamonds even more heavier than “traditional”, perhaps as much as 60%.
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They have been discussed for decades since their discovery, whether the diamonds of the meteorite actually exist in pure form, or whether these small crystals are only mixed cubic diamond and graphite phases.
Previous attempts to find answers usually ended with the production of simple cubic diamonds or messy mixtures. For example, the team was partially successful in synthesizing them using Gunpowder and Compressed Ore graphite discs. However, the success of the Chinese team seems to have now resolved a 60 -year -old scientific argument.
Related alien diamonds
According to reports, the team managed to produce pure hexagonal diamond crystals with a width of 100 micrometers, or about human hair thickness. This has been achieved with an extremely pure, one crystal graphite with the idea that less impurities will mean less likely to “commit” to cubic structure.
Using this, scientists used controlled high pressure and temperature, as well as quasi -romostatic conditions (which means that the pressure is the same in all directions). They also used in situations of X -rays during the process to monitor the transformation of real -time and adjust the conditions for the hexagonal diamond growth.
The breakthrough is considered to be the first macroscopic evidence that the hexagonal diamond actually exists as a separate stable structure. It also pushes the boundaries of what Superhard means behind the traditional cubic diamond qualities.
Given that the new synthetic hexagonal diamond promises superior hardness and thermal resistance, it can be used in production cutting tools, wear resistance to coating and possibly high -end electronics (diamonds are excellent heat conductors and can control extreme conditions).
“This synthesized hexagonal diamond is expected to form new ways of developing superhard materials and high-end electronic devices,” said the Ho-Kwang Mao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The study was published in the magazine Nature;