A team of Chinese researchers managed to synthesize Lonsdaleíta, a rare hexagonal diamond shape with a hardness 40% greater than that of the natural diamond.
This finding was made by scientists at the University of Jilin and Sun Yat-Sen University, the Chinese Giudad Daily reported Wednesday.
The development group recently stressed that the Lonsdaleíta was obtained from graphite subjected to extreme pressure and temperature conditions.
“LonsDaleíta’s synthesis has been a focus point for research for scientists around the world during the last 50 years,” said Yao Mingguang, a professor at the State Laboratory Key Superdide Materials at the University of Jilin.
The Lonsdaleíta, discovered in 1967, is naturally formed in meteorite impact sites, although its artificial synthesis has been a challenge for the scientific community.
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Despite progress, industrial production of the Lonsdaleíta is not yet viable
To achieve this, Chinese researchers applied a pressure of 300,000 atmospheres, six times higher than necessary to manufacture conventional diamonds.
As a result, they obtained crystals of up to 1.2 millimeters in diameter, a considerably larger size than those obtained in previous attempts.
In addition to its exceptional hardness, the synthesized LonsDaleíta has a remarkable thermal stability, being stable up to 1,100 ° C.
“The new synthesized diamonds exhibit thermal stability and remain stable at extreme temperatures,” said Yao.
This feature could allow its application in ultra -resistant and semiconductor materials.
Despite the advance, industrial production is not yet viable: “Finding adequate catalysts can pave the way for it,” said the researcher.
The team now seeks to optimize the process to transfer laboratory synthesis to manufacturing in large volumes.
With EFE information
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