Chinese scientists have created a diamond of exceptional hardness. This „super diamond“ is much harder than natural diamonds due to its hexagonal crystal structure, reports the South China Morning Post. Hard diamonds have many industrial applications, mainly for cutting and polishing.
Diamonds with a hexagonal structure are particularly difficult to produce in the laboratory. First achieved by an American research team in 2021, Chinese researchers have now also developed a method to synthesize „almost pure“ hexagonal diamonds from graphite. The diamond made in the Chinese lab is 40 percent harder than a natural diamond and retains its properties even under extreme temperature fluctuations. This suggests its great potential for industrial applications, writes the research team.
Diamonds of particular hardness are used, among other things, as grinding or drilling tools in industry. Due to their precision and thermal conductivity, they are also important in surgery and the semiconductor industry. ek