Discovery of diamond competitor… Earth’s hardest material found
A research team has identified a material that is nearly unbreakable, believed to rival “diamonds” as the hardest substance on Earth.
Scientists discovered that when carbon and nitrogen particles were subjected to extreme heat and pressure, the resulting materials, known as “carbon nitrides,” were even harder than cubic boron nitride, the second hardest material after diamonds.
In a study published in the journal Advanced Materials, researchers stated that this breakthrough opens doors for the use of multifunctional materials for industrial purposes, including protective coatings for cars, spacecraft, high-performance cutting tools, solar panels, and optical detection devices.
Scientists have been trying to explore the potential of carbon nitrides since the 1980s when they first noticed their exceptional properties, including high heat resistance.
However, after more than three decades of research and multiple attempts to adapt them, no reliable results were reported, according to The Independent.
Now, an international team of researchers, led by scientists from the Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems at the University of Edinburgh, and experts from Bayreuth University in Germany and Linköping University in Sweden, has made significant progress.
Dr. Dominika Łańcucka, from the Institute of Condensed Matter Physics and Complex Systems at the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh, said, “When we discovered the first material from new carbon nitride materials, we couldn’t believe it.”
She added, “The materials produced what researchers had dreamed of for the past three decades, and these materials provide a strong incentive to bridge the gap between high-pressure material manufacturing and industrial applications.”
The research team exposed different forms of carbon nitrogen particles to pressures ranging from 70 to 135 gigapascals (about a million times atmospheric pressure) while heating them to temperatures exceeding 1500 degrees Celsius.
To determine the atomic arrangement of compounds under these conditions, the samples were illuminated by a highly focused X-ray beam in three particle accelerators at research facilities in the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron in Germany, and the Advanced Photon Source in the United States.
Scientists discovered that three compounds of carbon nitride contained the essential elements necessary for extreme hardness, and they found that these three compounds retained their diamond-like qualities when returned to normal pressure and temperature conditions.
Calculations and additional experiments indicate that the new materials have additional properties, including optical brilliance and high energy density, allowing for the storage of a large amount of energy in a small mass.
