Friday, September 03, 2021

Hardest amorphous material can scratch even diamond

Amazing stuff!

"Applying high temperatures and pressure to buckminsterfullerene C60 produces amorphous carbon materials with a compressive strength similar to diamond, scientists have found. ...
The hardest among these amorphous materials made by an international team of researchers was created at 1200˚C. Its tetragonally-arranged network of sp3 carbons is so hard it scratches diamond and is of a similar compressive strength, which describes the material’s ability to withstand being squashed under a load. But unlike insulating diamond, the material has a small bandgap, making it a semiconductor. This could be useful in solar cells and photoelectric applications as the bandgap is similar to silicon."

Hardest amorphous material can scratch even diamond | Research | Chemistry World Compressing buckyballs at high temperatures makes ultra-hard and strong carbon materials

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