The figure shows the structure of the C-60 buckyball as the original material (left) and the M-xylene solvent (blue), as well as its superhard form (right), which is inside the diamond gun. More than 400,000 atmospheres after extrusion. Although the extruded buckyball is amorphous, the solvent maintains the long-range crystal order of the material. Image courtesy of Wang Lin, Washington Carnegie Institute 
Optical micrographs of the diamond surface show two "ring crack" dents (magenta arrows) that were left behind after compression of the carbon-based ball/xylene material at approximately 330,000 atmospheres. These dents indicate that the comminuted material is "superhard", that is, the material is almost as hard as a diamond. A group of researchers led by Wang Lin of the Carnegie Institution observed a new form of superhard carbon clusters, in which there are both structural combinations of crystallinity and disorder, which is unusual. This discovery has potential applications in the fields of mechanical, electronic, and electrochemical applications. The research was published in the August 17 issue of Science. Carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe, presenting a variety of forms - honeycomb graphite, pencil-core graphite, diamonds, cylindrical carbon nanotubes, hollow spherical fullerenes, and so on. Some forms of carbon are crystalline, indicating that the structure of the carbon crystal is composed of repeating atomic units. There are also some carbon structures that are disordered, which indicates that this structure lacks the order of long-range crystallinity. Mixed structures combining crystalline and disordered elements have not previously been observed, although scientists believe that such structures can be created. Wang Lin's research team – including Yang Wenge, Liu Zhenxian, Stanislav, New Orchard and Meng Hao of the Carnegie Institute, started with a C-60 network structure, which is highly integrated. The carbon-based spheres are bonded together. The carbon-based spheres are hollow circles and are composed of a pentagon and a hexagonal ring. In addition, an organic xylene solvent is placed in the gap between the balls to form a new structure. Then, they exert pressure on the structure to see how it changes with external conditions. At relatively low pressures, the C-60 mesh structure can be preserved. But as the pressure increases, the network begins to collapse into more amorphous carbon clusters. However, amorphous structures still occupy their original positions, forming a lattice structure. The research team found that there is a narrow pressure range of about 320,000 times the standard atmospheric pressure. Within this pressure range, this new carbon structure will be created and will not return to its original state even if the applied pressure disappears. This will be the key to finding practical applications of new materials. This material is capable of denting diamonds under high pressure conditions. This shows that this material is super hard. If the solvent xylene used to make the new form carbon is removed by heat treatment, the material loses its periodicity of lattice. This shows that solvents are important to maintain the chemical transition of the infrastructure. Because there are many similar solvents, in theory, it is similar but different, and the carbon lattice can be constructed by applying pressure. “We have created a new type of carbon material that is comparable to diamonds and cannot be compressed,†says Wang Lin. “Once it is manufactured under special pressure and can exist under normal conditions, it has The value of practical applications."Police Equipment,Military Equipment,Tactical Equipment
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