Diamond is no longer the hardest substance in the world

longThe hardest natural substanceAlthough it was a diamond, it seems that natural substances harder than diamond existed. "Lonsdaleite (Lonsday Wright: crystallographerCatherine LonsdaleNami naming) "It was revealed that substances which are extremely rare in nature are harder than diamonds by 58%.

Details are as below.Itv News | Diamond is no longer nature's hardest material

Lonsday light is a crystal of the same carbon atom as diamond, itsCrystal structureIt is also called "Hexagonal diamond" (hexagonal diamond).

An international team by Zicheng Pan et al. From Shanghai Jiao Tong University conducted a simulation simulating pressure on Lonsdaleite and Wurtzite Boron Nitride (WBN: wurtzite boron nitride) with extremely sharp results, WBN was 18% higher than diamonds , Lonsday light proved to withstand 58% higher pressure than diamond.

Lonsday light is on earthGraphiteIt is rarely formed by the collision of the meteorite including the WBN and it is formed by the volcanic eruption of high temperature and high pressure.

Lonsdaleite is harder with two substances, but WBN is expected to be useful because it is more stable in high temperature oxygen (it is harder to burn), so it is expected to be useful, and as an example of industrial application, It is mentioned as a tip of a drill and a blade to be used, as a corrosion prevention film on the surface of a space ship, and the like.

Surprisingly, the secret of the hardness of WBN is that it is in the "flexibility" of bonds between atoms, and when pressure is applied, part of the coupling rotates by 90 degrees to relieve the stress and be destroyed It seems to be difficult.