While traditional diamonds are formed over billions of years deep in the Earth where extreme pressures and temperatures provide just the right conditions to crystalize carbon, scientists are working on more expedient ways of forging the precious stones. An international team of researchers has succeeded in whittling this process down to mere minutes, demonstrating a new technique where they not only form quickly, but do so at room temperature.

Artificial versions of this famously tough material could find use as new cutting tools to slice through ultra-hard materials, new kinds of protective coatings or other industrial devices where toughness is a desirable attribute. And recently we’ve seen some promising techniques developed that can turn fossil fuel molecules into pure diamonds, or make them from carbon nanofibers with the help of superfast lasers.

“The twist in the story is how we apply the pressure,” says ANU Professor Jodie Bradby. “As well as very high pressures, we allow the carbon to also experience something called ‘shear’ – which is like a twisting or sliding force. We think this allows the carbon atoms to move into place and form Lonsdaleite and regular diamond.”

These regular diamonds are the type you might find in an engagement ring, while Lonsdaleite diamonds are rarer and found at meteorite impact sites. Using advanced electron microscopy, the team was able to examine the samples in detail, and found that the materials were formed within bands they liken to “rivers” of diamond.

“Our pictures showed that the regular diamonds only form in the middle of these Lonsdaleite veins under this new method developed by our cross-institutional team,” says RMIT’s Professor Dougal McCulloch. “Seeing these little ‘rivers’ of Lonsdaleite and regular diamond for the first time was just amazing and really helps us understand how they might form.”

The team hopes the technique can enable them to produce meaningful quantities of these artificial diamonds, particularly Lonsdaleite, which is predicted to be 58 percent harder than regular diamonds.

“Lonsdaleite has the potential to be used for cutting through ultra-solid materials on mining sites,” Bradby says.

https://youtu.be/imysF6z9HEk

https://newatlas.com/materials/scientists-rare-diamonds-minutes-room-temperature/

PermeateFree said:

While traditional diamonds are formed over billions of years deep in the Earth where extreme pressures and temperatures provide just the right conditions to crystalize carbon, scientists are working on more expedient ways of forging the precious stones. An international team of researchers has succeeded in whittling this process down to mere minutes, demonstrating a new technique where they not only form quickly, but do so at room temperature.

Artificial versions of this famously tough material could find use as new cutting tools to slice through ultra-hard materials, new kinds of protective coatings or other industrial devices where toughness is a desirable attribute. And recently we’ve seen some promising techniques developed that can turn fossil fuel molecules into pure diamonds, or make them from carbon nanofibers with the help of superfast lasers.

“The twist in the story is how we apply the pressure,” says ANU Professor Jodie Bradby. “As well as very high pressures, we allow the carbon to also experience something called ‘shear’ – which is like a twisting or sliding force. We think this allows the carbon atoms to move into place and form Lonsdaleite and regular diamond.”

These regular diamonds are the type you might find in an engagement ring, while Lonsdaleite diamonds are rarer and found at meteorite impact sites. Using advanced electron microscopy, the team was able to examine the samples in detail, and found that the materials were formed within bands they liken to “rivers” of diamond.

“Our pictures showed that the regular diamonds only form in the middle of these Lonsdaleite veins under this new method developed by our cross-institutional team,” says RMIT’s Professor Dougal McCulloch. “Seeing these little ‘rivers’ of Lonsdaleite and regular diamond for the first time was just amazing and really helps us understand how they might form.”

The team hopes the technique can enable them to produce meaningful quantities of these artificial diamonds, particularly Lonsdaleite, which is predicted to be 58 percent harder than regular diamonds.

“Lonsdaleite has the potential to be used for cutting through ultra-solid materials on mining sites,” Bradby says.

https://youtu.be/imysF6z9HEk

https://newatlas.com/materials/scientists-rare-diamonds-minutes-room-temperature/

Hopefully this will lead to cheaper sandpapers made with diamond which are expensive at the moment.

Tau.Neutrino said:

PermeateFree said:

While traditional diamonds are formed over billions of years deep in the Earth where extreme pressures and temperatures provide just the right conditions to crystalize carbon, scientists are working on more expedient ways of forging the precious stones. An international team of researchers has succeeded in whittling this process down to mere minutes, demonstrating a new technique where they not only form quickly, but do so at room temperature.

Artificial versions of this famously tough material could find use as new cutting tools to slice through ultra-hard materials, new kinds of protective coatings or other industrial devices where toughness is a desirable attribute. And recently we’ve seen some promising techniques developed that can turn fossil fuel molecules into pure diamonds, or make them from carbon nanofibers with the help of superfast lasers.

“The twist in the story is how we apply the pressure,” says ANU Professor Jodie Bradby. “As well as very high pressures, we allow the carbon to also experience something called ‘shear’ – which is like a twisting or sliding force. We think this allows the carbon atoms to move into place and form Lonsdaleite and regular diamond.”

These regular diamonds are the type you might find in an engagement ring, while Lonsdaleite diamonds are rarer and found at meteorite impact sites. Using advanced electron microscopy, the team was able to examine the samples in detail, and found that the materials were formed within bands they liken to “rivers” of diamond.

“Our pictures showed that the regular diamonds only form in the middle of these Lonsdaleite veins under this new method developed by our cross-institutional team,” says RMIT’s Professor Dougal McCulloch. “Seeing these little ‘rivers’ of Lonsdaleite and regular diamond for the first time was just amazing and really helps us understand how they might form.”

The team hopes the technique can enable them to produce meaningful quantities of these artificial diamonds, particularly Lonsdaleite, which is predicted to be 58 percent harder than regular diamonds.

“Lonsdaleite has the potential to be used for cutting through ultra-solid materials on mining sites,” Bradby says.

https://youtu.be/imysF6z9HEk

https://newatlas.com/materials/scientists-rare-diamonds-minutes-room-temperature/

Hopefully this will lead to cheaper sandpapers made with diamond which are expensive at the moment.

Large drilling operations rely on the drilling part being harder than what they are drilling through. They literally grind there way through and a super hard diamond would do the job better and last much longer.

PermeateFree said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

PermeateFree said:

While traditional diamonds are formed over billions of years deep in the Earth where extreme pressures and temperatures provide just the right conditions to crystalize carbon, scientists are working on more expedient ways of forging the precious stones. An international team of researchers has succeeded in whittling this process down to mere minutes, demonstrating a new technique where they not only form quickly, but do so at room temperature.

Artificial versions of this famously tough material could find use as new cutting tools to slice through ultra-hard materials, new kinds of protective coatings or other industrial devices where toughness is a desirable attribute. And recently we’ve seen some promising techniques developed that can turn fossil fuel molecules into pure diamonds, or make them from carbon nanofibers with the help of superfast lasers.

“The twist in the story is how we apply the pressure,” says ANU Professor Jodie Bradby. “As well as very high pressures, we allow the carbon to also experience something called ‘shear’ – which is like a twisting or sliding force. We think this allows the carbon atoms to move into place and form Lonsdaleite and regular diamond.”

These regular diamonds are the type you might find in an engagement ring, while Lonsdaleite diamonds are rarer and found at meteorite impact sites. Using advanced electron microscopy, the team was able to examine the samples in detail, and found that the materials were formed within bands they liken to “rivers” of diamond.

“Our pictures showed that the regular diamonds only form in the middle of these Lonsdaleite veins under this new method developed by our cross-institutional team,” says RMIT’s Professor Dougal McCulloch. “Seeing these little ‘rivers’ of Lonsdaleite and regular diamond for the first time was just amazing and really helps us understand how they might form.”

The team hopes the technique can enable them to produce meaningful quantities of these artificial diamonds, particularly Lonsdaleite, which is predicted to be 58 percent harder than regular diamonds.

“Lonsdaleite has the potential to be used for cutting through ultra-solid materials on mining sites,” Bradby says.

https://youtu.be/imysF6z9HEk

https://newatlas.com/materials/scientists-rare-diamonds-minutes-room-temperature/

Hopefully this will lead to cheaper sandpapers made with diamond which are expensive at the moment.

Large drilling operations rely on the drilling part being harder than what they are drilling through. They literally grind there way through and a super hard diamond would do the job better and last much longer.

there = their

PermeateFree said:

PermeateFree said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Hopefully this will lead to cheaper sandpapers made with diamond which are expensive at the moment.

Large drilling operations rely on the drilling part being harder than what they are drilling through. They literally grind there way through and a super hard diamond would do the job better and last much longer.

there = their

I point everyone back to Moh’s scale.

> “The twist in the story is how we apply the pressure. As well as very high pressures, we allow the carbon to also experience something called ‘shear’ – which is like a twisting or sliding force. We think this allows the carbon atoms to move into place and form Lonsdaleite and regular diamond.”

Seems perfectly plausible to me. Diamond-like carbon.