2023-12-22 09:00:00
Due to its structure, diamond is considered the strongest substance in the world, but carbon nitrides might well approach or even surpass it. Tristan Bergen 22/12/2023 10:00 4 min
Recently, scientists at the University of Edinburgh announced that they believe they have created carbon nitrides in the laboratory, a material that might approach the strength of diamond and even potentially surpass it !
Carbon nitrides: what are they?
THE carbon nitrides have been known to scientists for several decades now. In the 1980s, researchers had already highlighted their potential, presenting tetrahedral three-dimensional structures offering them particularly high resistance, particularly to heat.
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These carbon nitrides were also considered to be more resistant than cubic boron nitride, currently known as the second hardest material on the planet, the most resistant being of course the diamond.
However, the laboratory creation of these carbon nitrides was a real challenge until todaythese showing themselves particularly difficult to synthesize. Since then, no credible study on the subject has been carried out.
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Recently, an international team of scientists led by researchers from the Center for Science in Extreme Conditions at the University of Edinburgh nevertheless reportedly achieved the feat of manufacturing this material.
A success in the scientific world
Materials scientists from the universities of Bayreuth (Germany) and Linköping (Sweden) teamed up to achieve this feat by subjecting different forms of carbon nitrogen precursors to particularly high pressures, ranging from 70 to 135 gigapascals (~1 million times atmospheric pressure at sea level on Earth), and at temperatures above 1500°C.
The atomic arrangement obtained under these conditions was subsequently examined using a scanning microscope and revealed that three of the synthesized carbon nitride compounds exhibited the expected structures. This achievement left scientists incredulous, these finally managing to produce materials that researchers have dreamed of for more than 3 decades.
Crushing carbon and nitrogen under immense pressure and heat creates the second-hardest known material following diamond.
This is carbon nitride. It is almost as hard as diamond. pic.twitter.com/uY3XF2iXJ3
— Nagachaithanya (@SpaceGuy_9) December 16, 2023
This discovery is far from trivial, as carbon nitrides can present a resistance similar and even potentially higher than that of diamond ! These might therefore be used in the development of revolutionary protective coatings for vehicles and spacecraft, but also in the creation of even more robust cutting tools.
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Also, the scientists in charge of the study discovered that these synthesized carbon nitrides were photoluminescent but also piezoelectricthat is to say that‘they produce electricity when subjected to mechanical forcesall while being high energy density. Thus, in addition to their exceptional resistance, other even more interesting features in terms of energy might in the future be attributed to this “new” material with extraordinary properties.
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