【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】Chinese scientists have synthesized the “hexagonal warriors” in diamonds”
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The well-known diamond is one of the hardest substances in nature. Research has found that hexagonal diamond, discovered in meteorites, is harder than ordinary diamond and thus holds greater value; however, the artificial synthesis of high-purity hexagonal diamond has always been a difficult challenge worldwide. Chinese scientists have recently succeeded in synthesizing hexagonal diamond at the 100-micron scale, and this achievement was published on the 30th in the international journal Nature. The carbon atoms in diamond are arranged in a tetrahedral lattice, giving it extreme hardness and wear resistance, which earns it the title of \"the king of hardness\". However, this structure also has weaknesses: certain planes are prone to misalignment and sliding once subjected to stress, which limits its strength. Thus, scientists turned their attention to another type of superdiamond with a more refined structure and superior properties: hexagonal diamond. The formation conditions for hexagonal diamond are extremely stringent. The biggest challenge in artificial synthesis is that the energy required to form hexagonal diamond under high temperature and pressure is higher than that needed for ordinary diamond; as a result, the products obtained under such conditions are usually ordinary diamond, making it difficult to obtain hexagonal diamond. Chinese scientists have innovatively proposed a method for converting graphite into hexagonal diamond, involving compressing and heating graphite single crystals under controlled high temperature and pressure as well as quasi-hydrostatic conditions, thereby obtaining high-purity hexagonal diamond.
“The carbon atoms in ordinary diamond are connected by identical bond lengths. In the hexagonal diamond we synthesized, there are two different bond lengths among the carbon atoms; one-quarter of the ‘C-C’ bonds are shorter and stronger, which overcomes the weakness of easy slippage at the closely packed surfaces in diamond, resulting in superior hardness and toughness. ”said Yang Wenge, the corresponding author of the paper. Yang Liuxiang, the first author of the paper and a researcher at the Beijing High Pressure Science Research Center, explained that the synthesis of high-purity hexagonal diamond relies on two key technologies: one is the use of natural graphite single crystals with high purity and no impurities, which helps to produce hexagonal diamond samples with even higher purity, micron-sized particles, and an orderly structure ； Secondly, appropriate detection methods are employed – researchers apply continuous pressure to the graphite crystals and use high-pressure in-situ X-ray imaging to observe the changes in the sample, thereby preventing the sliding of the closely packed surfaces and ultimately producing pure, undeformed hexagonal diamond blocks. “This work lays a methodological foundation for further research on diamond-like materials.” The superior hardness, thermal conductivity, optical properties, and quantum characteristics of hexagonal diamond will also open up new avenues for the development of superhard materials and high-end electronic devices. ”Ma Heguang, a high-pressure physicist and foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said.
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