What’s Harder Than a Diamond?

Even now, diamond is considered the hardest material available. After accounting for large compressive pressures beneath indenters, scientists have found that wurtzite boron nitride (w-BN) has a higher indentation strength than diamond. Furthermore, the study’s authors discovered that lonsdaleite, also known as hexagonal diamond due to its carbon composition and similarities to diamond, is 58% stronger than diamond.

There’s a reason diamonds have been considered the hardest natural material for so long. About two years ago, a composite material containing the mineral wurtzite BN demonstrated the indentation resistance of diamond for the first time.

Theoretical models developed by researchers suggest that pure wurtzite BN is significantly more robust than diamond. Similar to wurtzite in structure, lonsdaleite has the potential to become 58% harder than diamond when subjected to high enough pressure.

A phase transformation into a new crystalline structure with enhanced strength in wurtzite-BN may occur as a result of the indentation itself.

A more robust structural response to compression is credited by researchers as the cause of w-BN and lonsdaleite’s superior strength. Materials undergo a structural phase shift into stronger structures when subjected to normal compressive pressures from indenters, with volume retained through the inversion of atomic bonds. Researchers believe that slight variations in bonding directionality between w-BN and lonsdaleite and diamond may account for the materials’ distinctive structural responses.

The w-strength BN increases by 78% compared to its value before the bond flip when it is subjected to high compressive pressures. After subjecting both materials to the same indentation conditions, researchers found that w-BN has a strength of 114 GPa, significantly greater than diamond’s 97 GPa. Because bond-flipping occurred during compression, lonsdaleite has a higher indentation strength than diamond (152 GPa) by a factor of 58%.

A carbon-based material called lonsdaleite outperforms a boron-and-nitrogen alloy called w-BN in terms of strength. The carbon-carbon bonds in Lonsdaleite are stronger than those in w-boron-nitrogen BN. The diamond cubic structure is more stable than the cubic structure of c-BN for the same reason.

Diamonds are the hardest naturally occuring or artificially produced substance, but they are still only the seventh hardest substance overall. Although they have been surpassed in many respects, they still hold a record that neither man-made nor extremely rare natural materials have been able to surpass.

Still, diamonds have the highest scratch resistance of any material. Diamonds are far more durable and scratch-proof than even the hardest ceramics or tungsten carbide. Famously hard gems like rubies and sapphires are softer than diamonds.

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But These Materials Have Even the Vaunted Diamond Beat in Terms of Hardness.

Wurtzite Boron Nitride

Boron nitride (BN), where the fifth and seventh elements on the periodic table join together to generate a multitude of possibilities, is one of the many atoms or compounds that may be used to construct a crystal in place of carbon. It comes in a variety of crystalline structures, including amorphous, hexagonal (like graphite), cubic (like diamond but weaker), and wurtzite.

The last of these types is both uncommon and difficult to come by. Due to its rarity, we have never been able to conduct an actual examination of its hardness. It is formed during volcanic eruptions. New computer simulations show that despite forming a tetrahedral crystal structure rather than a face-centred cubic one, this material is 18% tougher than diamond.

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Lonsdaleite

Let’s pretend for a moment that Earth is hit by a meteor rich in carbon because it contains graphite. Popular belief that a meteorite’s core warms up as it gets closer to Earth is false.

Upon impact, the graphite is compressed into a crystalline structure at pressures greater than any natural activity on Earth’s surface, and the object shatters into a million pieces. Its hardness can be increased by 58% over diamonds due to its hexagonal lattice structure. Naturally occuring lonsdaleite is softer than diamond because of impurities, but a meteorite made entirely of graphite would undoubtedly yield a material harder than any diamond on Earth.

Dyneema

We will no longer use any natural resources in our production processes. Dyneema stands out from other thermoplastic polythene polymers due to its exceptionally high molecular weight. A typical molecule is a chain of atoms, and the sum of the atomic mass units (protons and/or neutrons) in these atoms is typically less than 10,000. However, UHMWPE, or ultra-high molecular weight polythene, has chains that are millions of atomic mass units in length.

Polymers with extremely long chain lengths are highly stable because their intermolecular interactions are strengthened. Its high impact strength compared to other thermoplastics is a testament to its incredible toughness. Tow and mooring ropes made from this material are considered to be the strongest ever made. It’s as dense as water but as strong as steel, 15 times stronger.

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Palladium Micro-Alloy Glass

There are two primary qualities that define all physical materials: their strength, or the force they can withstand before deforming, and their toughness, or the amount of energy needed to break or fracture them. Most ceramics are strong but not long-lasting; a vice grip or a brief fall from a standing position could break them. High elastic modulus materials, like rubber, can be used as energy storage devices, but their flexibility and lack of durability make them undesirable.

Materials with a glassy texture tend to be brittle; they are strong, but not particularly tough. in such a way that it can penetrate even the toughest of bulletproof glass.

Gorilla Glass and Pyrex, while more durable than most other materials, are still relatively fragile. In 2011, researchers developed a novel micro-alloy glass made up of five elements: phosphorous, silicon, germanium, silver, and palladium. The palladium served as a conduit for generating shear bands, making the glass ductile rather than brittle. It can outperform both steel and the items lower on this list due to its superior strength and durability. Its hardness surpasses that of any material that does not contain carbon.

Buckypaper

As the century came to a close, word quickly spread that carbon nanotubes were more durable than diamonds. This structure, which is made by fusing carbon atoms into hexagons, is the most stable of its kind and can maintain a rigid cylindrical shape. This ultrathin “buckypaper” is made from a single layer of millions of carbon nanotubes.

Nanotubes are only 2- 4 nm in diameter, but despite their small size, they are extremely strong and resilient. It weighs only a tenth as much as steel but can withstand hundreds of times as much force. Possible uses in materials science, electronics, the military, and even medicine are brought about by its high thermal conductivity, electromagnetic shielding properties, and indestructibility. Buckypaper may be made primarily of nanotubes, but it is not preferable.

Graphene

At long last, a hexagonal lattice of carbon only one atom thick. Graphene is the most ground-breaking material developed and used thus far in the 21st century. It is essential to the structure of carbon nanotubes, and its applications are rapidly growing. Graphene is already a multimillion-dollar industry, but experts estimate it will be worth billions in the not-too-distant future.

It’s nearly transparent to light, has the highest strength-to-thickness ratio of any material, and conducts heat and electricity very well. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov’s groundbreaking studies with graphene in 2010 won them the Nobel Prize in Physics, expanding the commercial potential of the material. Graphene is the thinnest material ever discovered, and the six years it took for Geim and Novoselov to win the Nobel Prize after its discovery is among the shortest in the history of physics.

Enhancing materials to have better hardness, strength, scratch resistance, lightness, toughness, etc. will likely never end. If humanity can push the boundaries of the resources at its disposal further than ever before, the range of what is possible stands to expand. A few decades ago, the idea of microelectronics, transistors, and the ability to alter individual atoms was undoubtedly the purview of science fiction. We no longer give them much thought because they have become so commonplace.

As we rush headfirst into the nanotech future, the materials we’ve been talking about here become increasingly important and pervasive. It’s fantastic that scientific advancement has led to a world where diamonds aren’t the hardest substance known. As the 21st century unfolds and these novel materials are put into practise, the impossibilities of the past will be exposed.

How Hard?

Material hardness is crucial since it frequently defines what they may be used for, yet it is notoriously difficult to describe. The scratch hardness of a mineral is its ability to resist being scratched by another mineral of a known hardness.

There are a number of methods for determining a material’s hardness, but one of the most common involves using an instrument to scratch its surface. The hardness value is calculated by dividing the force required to form an indentation by the indentation’s surface area. In general, the value increases as the hardness of the material increases. As part of the Vickers hardness test, a diamond probe with a square base is used to produce an indentation.

Comparatively, the Vickers hardness value of diamond is roughly 70-100 GPa, whereas that of mild steel is just around 9 GPa. Because of its legendary durability, diamond is widely employed as wear-resistant coatings on cutting, drilling, and grinding instruments and as an addition to abrasives.

Diamond is a challenge since it is both very hard and unexpectedly brittle. Heating a diamond over 800 degrees Celsius in the air causes it to undergo a change in its chemical characteristics, reducing its strength and allowing it to react with iron, rendering it unfit for machining steel.

Given these constraints, research into producing new chemically stable, superhard materials has accelerated. Longer tool upkeep intervals and less reliance on coolants, which may be harmful to the environment, are both benefits of improved wear resistance coatings for industrial machinery. Scientists have developed numerous possible alternatives to diamond.

Boron Nitride

Boron nitride, a synthetic substance that was first created in 1957, is similar to carbon in that it may exist in several allotropes. Its cubic form (c-BN) has the same crystalline structure as diamond, but instead of carbon atoms it is composed of boron and nitrogen atoms that are bound in alternating pairs. c-BN has excellent chemical and thermal stability, making it a popular choice as a superhard coating for machine tools in the aerospace and automotive sectors.

However, with a Vickers hardness of just roughly 50 GPa, cubic boron nitride may at most claim to be the world’s second-hardest material. A stronger indentation strength than diamond was first claimed for its hexagonal form (w-BN), although this was based on theoretical calculations. Unfortunately, substantial amounts of w-BN are difficult to manufacture due to its great rarity in nature, therefore testing this claim experimentally is challenging.

Synthetic Diamond

Since the 1950s, synthetic diamond has also been available, with claims that its unusual crystal structure makes it tougher than real diamond. Graphite’s structure can be rearranged into the tetrahedral diamond by subjecting it to high pressure and temperature, but this process is time-consuming and costly. You can also efficiently build it up using carbon atoms extracted from heated hydrocarbon vapours, although this process is limited by the substrate materials available.

Diamonds created in a lab are polycrystalline, meaning they are made up of many tiny crystallites, or “grains,” ranging in size from a few millimetres to several nanometers. Whereas most jewelry-grade natural diamonds are huge, uncut monocrystals, the smaller the grain size, the more grain boundaries, and the harder the substance. Some synthetic diamonds have been found to have a Vickers hardness of up to 200 GPa, according to recent studies.

Q-carbon

Researchers at State University have reportedly discovered a novel type of carbon that is harder than diamond and is unique from previous allotropes. The micron-sized diamonds in Q-carbon were created by heating non-crystalline carbon with a high-powered rapid laser pulse to 3,700 °C and then swiftly cooling it, thus the name.

Compared to carbon with characteristics comparable to diamonds, Q-carbon was shown to be 60% tougher in lab tests (a type of amorphous carbon with similar properties to diamond). Based on this, they hypothesise that Q-carbon is harder than diamond, a claim that has yet to be tested in the lab. Magnetic and luminescent when exposed to light, Q-carbon is a very unique material. However, its primary use so far has been as a stepping stone in the production of minute synthetic diamond particles at ambient temperature and pressure. These nanodiamonds are too tiny to be used in jewellery, but they provide an excellent, low-cost coating for blades and polishers.

Power Words

Atom is the smallest conceivable amount of a substance. Atoms consist of a compact nucleus (made up of positively charged protons and neutrons) surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The number of protons in the nucleus must be equal to the number of electrons in order for the atom to be electrically neutral.

Quantity of atoms Atomic nature and behaviour are determined by the number of protons in the nucleus.

Carbon Chemical element having atomic number 6. Diamond, graphite (the stuff in pencil lead), and coal are all different forms of the element carbon, which is one of the most prevalent in the universe. Carbon is found in all forms of life and is the building block of more chemical compounds than any other element.

The Diamond Anvil Cell Instrument used by scientists to subject samples to extreme pressure. Typically, samples are placed in between two thin, flat diamond slices. Intense internal pressures are possible inside the samples due to the diamonds’ extreme hardness. Researchers often use diamond anvil cell compression to simulate conditions found deep inside the Earth or on other planets in order to better understand the properties of mineral samples.

Fullerenes Carbon molecules with drawn-out chemical bonds resembling little soccer ball-like cages. Named “buckyballs” after the famed architect and engineer Buckminster Fuller, whose dome-shaped constructions resemble fullerene molecules, fullerenes have been studied and synthesised by chemists since 1985.

Expert in materials One who investigates the connection between a material’s atomic and molecular structure and its overall characteristics. Scientists that specialise in materials may both create and study existing materials. Materials scientists assist engineers and scientists choose the best materials for their projects by analysing a wide range of qualities (such as density, melting point, etc.).

Molecule The smallest unit of a chemical compound, which consists of a collection of identical atoms with no nett electric charge. A molecule’s constituent atoms might be of a single kind or a wide variety of sorts. For comparison, whereas air oxygen consists of two oxygen atoms (O2), water consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O).

This finding may also contribute to the development of new strategies for developing superhard materials by illuminating the underlying atomistic process that strengthens certain materials. Many different areas of science and technology would benefit greatly from the use of superhard materials that also display other desired features.

Not only do superhard materials have a high hardness, but they also have other essential properties. Since many superhard materials are used as cutting and drilling tools and as wear, fatigue, and corrosion resistant coatings in fields as diverse as microelectronics and space exploration, thermal stability is also an important consideration. At high temperatures (about 600 °C), carbon atoms in diamond and other carbon-based superhard minerals will react with oxygen atoms, rendering the materials unstable.

Since high-temperature applications need the use of superhard materials, it is essential that novel, thermally more stable materials be developed. In addition, it is extremely desired to construct superhard materials that are conductors or superconductors, since most typical superhard materials, such diamond and cubic-BN, are semiconductors. There are a number of recording devices that rely on very hard magnetic materials.

Conclusion

Indentation strength tests have shown that wurtzite boron nitride (w-BN) is stronger than diamond, and that lonsdaleite, which is also known as hexagonal diamond due to its carbon composition and similarities to diamond, is 58% stronger than diamond. This data suggests that the indentation may induce a phase transformation in w-BN, leading to a new crystalline structure with improved strength. Lonsdaleite’s carbon-carbon bonds are more robust than w-boron-nitrogen BN’s, and diamond’s cubic structure is more robust than c-for BN’s the same reason. Although diamonds are the hardest substance known to man, even harder substances exist. It is possible to use materials other than carbon to build a crystal, such as boron nitride, lonsdaleite, Dyneema, and wurtzite.

Due to its hexagonal lattice structure, wurzite is 18% tougher than diamond and can be improved by 58% over diamonds. As a polythene with a molecular weight in the hundreds of millions, Dyneema has extremely long chains. Because of their strong intermolecular interactions, polymers with extremely long chain lengths are very stable. This new micro-alloy glass, called Palladium Micro-Alloy Glass, features a unique composition of five elements: phosphorous, silicon, germanium, silver, and palladium. Water-like in density, but 15 times stronger than steel.

Among their peers, carbon nanotubes are the most shape-persistent. Buckypaper, which consists of millions of carbon nanotubes arranged in a single layer, is extremely durable and can withstand hundreds of times as much pressure. It could be used in a variety of fields, including materials research, electronics, defence, and even medicine. Graphene, the most revolutionary material of the 21st century, is finding an ever-expanding range of uses. The commercial potential of graphene was greatly increased by the groundbreaking research of Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their efforts.

It is the thinnest material ever found, and Geim and Novoselov only had to wait six years to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery. The scratch hardness of a mineral is defined as its resistance to being scratched by another mineral of a known hardness, and this property is crucial because it determines what materials can be used. Scratching the surface with an instrument is one of many ways to test the hardness of a substance. Diamond is often applied to industrial machinery as a coating to prevent wear, but due to its hardness and fragility, it cannot be used for steel machining. Boron nitride, synthetic diamond, and graphite are just some examples of the new chemically stable, superhard materials that have sparked a surge in research into their production.

A Vickers hardness of 50 GPa makes C-BN the second-hardest material on Earth. High pressure and heat can rearrange the structure of graphite into that of a tetrahedral diamond, but this is an inefficient and expensive process. Synthetic diamonds are polycrystalline, meaning they consist of many individual crystallites with sizes ranging from a few millimetres to several nanometers. Q-carbon is an unconventional form of carbon that is more durable than diamond and distinct from other allotropes of the element. Using a high-powered rapid laser pulse, non-crystalline carbon was heated to 3,700 °C and then rapidly cooled to create it.

It has been a stepping stone in the development of low-temperature, low-pressure methods for manufacturing synthetic diamond nanoparticles. The nature and behaviour of an atom are established by its nucleus’s proton count. Carbon is the most common chemical compound building block and is essential to all forms of life. Researchers can replicate the high pressures found deep within the Earth or on other planets by using the Diamond Anvil Cell Instrument on sample samples.

It is utilised in the research of fullerenes, which are carbon molecules with stretched chemical bonds resembling little soccer ball-like cages, and in the creation of novel approaches to developing superhard materials. The hardness of these materials is impressive, but that isn’t all they bring to the table; they also have other useful qualities like thermal stability and conductivity. New, thermally more stable materials must be created because of the need for superhard materials in high-temperature applications.

Content Summary

• After accounting for large compressive pressures beneath indenters, scientists have found that wurtzite boron nitride (w-BN) has a higher indentation strength than diamond.
• Furthermore, the study’s authors discovered that lonsdaleite, also known as hexagonal diamond due to its carbon composition and similarities to diamond, is 58% stronger than diamond.
• Similar to wurtzite in structure, lonsdaleite has the potential to become 58% harder than diamond when subjected to high enough pressure.
• The w-strength BN increases by 78% compared to its value before the bond flip when it is subjected to high compressive pressures.
• Because bond-flipping occurred during compression, lonsdaleite has a higher indentation strength than diamond (152 GPa) by a factor of 58%.A carbon-based material called lonsdaleite outperforms a boron-and-nitrogen alloy called w-BN in terms of strength.
• The carbon-carbon bonds in Lonsdaleite are stronger than those in w-boron-nitrogen BN.
• Boron nitride (BN), where the fifth and seventh elements on the periodic table join together to generate a multitude of possibilities, is one of the many atoms or compounds that may be used to construct a crystal in place of carbon.
• It’s as dense as water but as strong as steel, 15 times stronger.
• This ultrathin “buckypaper” is made from a single layer of millions of carbon nanotubes.
• Graphene is the most ground-breaking material developed and used thus far in the 21st century.
• It is essential to the structure of carbon nanotubes, and its applications are rapidly growing.
• Graphene is already a multimillion-dollar industry, but experts estimate it will be worth billions in the not-too-distant future.
• It’s nearly transparent to light, has the highest strength-to-thickness ratio of any material, and conducts heat and electricity very well.
• Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov’s groundbreaking studies with graphene in 2010 won them the Nobel Prize in Physics, expanding the commercial potential of the material.
• Graphene is the thinnest material ever discovered, and the six years it took for Geim and Novoselov to win the Nobel Prize after its discovery is among the shortest in the history of physics.
• Enhancing materials to have better hardness, strength, scratch resistance, lightness, toughness, etc.
• Because of its legendary durability, diamond is widely employed as wear-resistant coatings on cutting, drilling, and grinding instruments and as an addition to abrasives.
• A stronger indentation strength than diamond was first claimed for its hexagonal form (w-BN), although this was based on theoretical calculations.
• Researchers at State University have reportedly discovered a novel type of carbon that is harder than diamond and is unique from previous allotropes.
• The micron-sized diamonds in Q-carbon were created by heating non-crystalline carbon with a high-powered rapid laser pulse to 3,700 °C and then swiftly cooling it, thus the name.
• Compared to carbon with characteristics comparable to diamonds, Q-carbon was shown to be 60% tougher in lab tests (a type of amorphous carbon with similar properties to diamond).
• Based on this, they hypothesise that Q-carbon is harder than diamond, a claim that has yet to be tested in the lab.
• Magnetic and luminescent when exposed to light, Q-carbon is a very unique material.
• However, its primary use so far has been as a stepping stone in the production of minute synthetic diamond particles at ambient temperature and pressure.
• These nanodiamonds are too tiny to be used in jewellery, but they provide an excellent, low-cost coating for blades and polishers.
• The Diamond Anvil Cell Instrument used by scientists to subject samples to extreme pressure.
• Researchers often use diamond anvil cell compression to simulate conditions found deep inside the Earth or on other planets in order to better understand the properties of mineral samples.
• Since many superhard materials are used as cutting and drilling tools and as wear, fatigue, and corrosion resistant coatings in fields as diverse as microelectronics and space exploration, thermal stability is also an important consideration.
• At high temperatures (about 600 °C), carbon atoms in diamond and other carbon-based superhard minerals will react with oxygen atoms, rendering the materials unstable.
• Since high-temperature applications need the use of superhard materials, it is essential that novel, thermally more stable materials be developed.

FAQs About Metal

What Is Something Harder Than Diamond?

The scientists found Q-carbon to be 60% harder than diamond-like carbon (a type of amorphous carbon with similar properties to diamond). This has led them to expect Q-carbon to be harder than diamond itself, although this still remains to be proven experimentally.

What Stone Is Harder Than Diamond?

Although diamond is commonly mentioned as the hardest mineral, there are minerals that are harder. Moissanite, a naturally occurring silicon-carbide, is almost as hard as diamond.

What Can Break a Diamond?

Diamonds are the hardest naturally occurring substance on earth. More information on diamonds. Diamonds are the most popular choice for engagement and wedding rings because they are almost indestructible, meaning it is nearly impossible to break a diamond.

Are Teeth Stronger Than Diamond?

Just how hard is tooth enamel? It is, in fact, the human body’s hardest substance. Using the scale of mineral hardness developed by German mineralogist Frederich Mohs in 1812, tooth enamel ranked 5 out of the 1-10 values. Diamonds ranked 10 (hardest) and plaster of Paris ranked only 2 on the Moh’s scale.

Which Materials Can Break Easily?

Brittle materials include glass, ceramic, graphite, and some alloys with extremely low plasticity, in which cracks can initiate without plastic deformation and can soon evolve into brittle breakage.