Fresh claim of making elusive 'hexagonal' diamond is the strongest yet

"Scientists covet the material because it "has potential applications in many fields, for example in cutting tools, in thermal management materials and in quantum sensing", says Chongxin Shan, a physicist at Zhengzhou University, who co-led the work."

"In conventional, or cubic, diamond, the carbon bonds between layers are marginally weaker than those within layers, which limits diamond's strength. In the hexagonal form, the bonds between layers are shorter and stronger than those in cubic diamond, and predictions suggest that these features should make hexagonal diamond more than 50% harder."

""There are hundreds of claims from people who believe they have seen it," says Oliver Tschauner, a mineralogical crystallographer at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who peer-reviewed the paper. "But this is the first very accurate characterization of this elusive material.""

Hexagonal diamond, a theoretical variant of conventional diamond, has been successfully synthesized by Chinese researchers after decades of disputed claims. Unlike cubic diamond with its three-layer repeating pattern, hexagonal diamond features a two-layer repeating pattern in its carbon atom structure. The hexagonal form possesses shorter and stronger bonds between layers compared to cubic diamond, making it theoretically over 50% harder. This material has potential applications in cutting tools, thermal management materials, and quantum sensing. Despite hundreds of previous claims about hexagonal diamond's existence, this represents the first accurate characterization of the elusive material, verified by independent peer review.

Read at Nature