Scientists have found a way to make a diamond even harder, opening new prospects for the synthesis of a unique form of carbon in laboratory conditions. This form, known as the BC8, has a volumetric-centered cubic (BCC) grille and can exceed the diamond in terms of compression by 30%. Studies conducted by physicists from the USA and Sweden using quantum-only molecular-dynamic simulations on a supercomputer showed how the diamond changes its properties under the influence of high pressure and temperatures, identifying the conditions for the transformation of carbon atoms in the diamond into the unusual BC8.
The BC8 phase was previously discovered on Earth in two materials – silicon and Germany, which allowed scientists to assume its existence for carbon. It is believed that such a carbon phase can exist in high-pressure conditions inside exoplanets, but its synthesis on Earth has not yet been successful. The structure of the diamond providing its hardness consists of a tetrahedron grate, where each carbon atom is associated with four closest neighbors. The BC8 phase retains this tetrahedron shape but does not have the planes of the split inherent in the diamond, which makes it potentially much stronger.
The study, headed by physicist Kyen Nguen Kong from the University of Southern Florida, used the power of the fastest supercomputer in the world to model the interactions between carbon atoms in a wide pressure and temperature range. These simulations helped establish why the synthesis of carbon BC8 represented difficulties – it turned out that the phase is available only in a narrow range of high pressure and temperatures.
Now that scientists know the necessary conditions for the synthesis of carbon BC8, new opportunities are opening up for its receipt in the laboratory. Currently, experiments inspired by this theory are underway at the national ignition attitude in order to implement the synthesis of the BC8 of carbon. Discoveries published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters Generations show that BC8 is significantly superior in its characteristics to diamonds and open new horizons in research and applications of materials.