Scientists Create Novel Ultrahard Diamond Glass

Dec, 2021 - By WMR

The novel ultrahard glass is made entirely of crushed carbon soccerballs, and consists high thermal conductivity.

Carbon is well known for its versatile feature, it can form several stable structures in numerous atomic arrangements, from graphene to diamond. A group of scientists from Carnegie Science found another way to use carbon element to create new material. The team created an ultrahard diamond glass, which is made from crushed carbon soccerballs, and this novel material has high thermal conductivity. According to the team, this new material could find use also in electronics.

Atomic arrangement of carbon can repeat crystalline patterns or amorphous like glass, and its atomic bonds can form in two or three dimensions, which decides the hardness of the material. To make this new ultrahard glass, the researchers found a form of carbon that automatically becomes disordered enough before putting it under pressure. The team used fullerene, which is commonly known as buckyballs. This element consists 60 carbon atoms that are arranged in shape of a soccer ball. The researchers put them under heat until the ball shape transformed into disarranged form. When this form was achieved, the team applied high pressure with a multi-anvil press, and as end result they obtained a diamond-like glass, which could be created in a millimeter-sized pieces.

Furthermore, observing the glass closely, the researchers found that the new material possessed a hardness of nearly 102 Gigapascals (GPa), which is greater than natural diamond. However, it is not as hard as AM-III, another form of glass that was recently created in China and had nearly 113 GPa hardness. According to the team, this novel diamond glass has the highest thermal conductivity of any amorphous material, and it can be created at temperature between 900 to 1000 ˚ C, which industrial production can achieve.