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New form of superhard carbon observed
http://www.physorg.com ^ | 11 Oct 2011 | Provided by Carnegie Institution

Posted on 10/13/2011 10:58:04 AM PDT by Red Badger

Carbon is the fourth-most-abundant element in the universe and takes on a wide variety of forms, called allotropes, including diamond and graphite. Scientists at Carnegie's Geophysical Laboratory are part of a team that has discovered a new form of carbon, which is capable of withstanding extreme pressure stresses that were previously observed only in diamond. This breakthrough discovery will be published in Physical Review Letters.

The team was led by Stanford's Wendy L. Mao and her graduate student Yu Lin and includes Carnegie's Ho-kwang (Dave) Mao, Li Zhang, Paul Chow, Yuming Xiao, Maria Baldini, and Jinfu Shu. The experiment started with a form of carbon called glassy carbon, which was first synthesized in the 1950s, and was found to combine desirable properties of glasses and ceramics with those of graphite. The team created the new carbon allotrope by compressing glassy carbon to above 400,000 times normal atmospheric pressure.

This new carbon form was capable of withstanding 1.3 million times normal atmospheric pressure in one direction while confined under a pressure of 600,000 times atmospheric levels in other directions. No substance other than diamond has been observed to withstand this type of pressure stress, indicating that the new carbon allotrope must indeed be very strong.

However, unlike diamond and other crystalline forms of carbon, the structure of this new material is not organized in repeating atomic units. It is an amorphous material, meaning that its structure lacks the long-range order of crystals. This amorphous, superhard carbon allotrope would have a potential advantage over diamond if its hardness turns out to be isotropic—that is, having hardness that is equally strong in all directions. In contrast, diamond's hardness is highly dependent upon the direction in which the crystal is oriented.

"These findings open up possibilities for potential applications, including super hard anvils for high-pressure research and could lead to new classes of ultradense and strong materials," said Russell Hemley, director of Carnegie's Geophysical Laboratory.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Technical
KEYWORDS: allotrope; carbon; diamond; stringtheory
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie
anvils??? All the blacksmiths will be happy.

So will the cartoon writers.

21 posted on 10/13/2011 11:36:37 AM PDT by ElkGroveDan (My tagline is in the shop.)
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To: Aevery_Freeman

And no oil required!........But how ya gonna machine it??????...........


22 posted on 10/13/2011 11:36:37 AM PDT by Red Badger (Furthermore, I think Obama must be impeached....................)
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To: Aevery_Freeman

Diamonds burn at 700 degrees F, so this probably does to, so possible application that would involve heat or friction that gets that in temp is probably not possible.


23 posted on 10/13/2011 11:42:44 AM PDT by Jonty30
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To: Red Badger

“And no oil required!........But how ya gonna machine it??????...........”

With a diamond tipped lathe


24 posted on 10/13/2011 11:46:59 AM PDT by roaddog727 (It's the Constitution, Stupid!)
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To: Uncle Ike

This means that the Chicoms now have it.


25 posted on 10/13/2011 11:50:18 AM PDT by Noumenon (The only 'NO' a liberal understands is the one that arrives at muzzle velocity.)
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To: Paradox

Arthur C. Clarke - The Fountains of Paradise (1979)


26 posted on 10/13/2011 11:50:50 AM PDT by reg45 (I'm not angry that Lincoln freed the slaves. I'm angry that Franklin Roosevelt bought them back.)
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To: ctdonath2
Efforts are underway to encourage the technology needed to build a space elevator.

It will never work. The human brain can't withstand that much elevator music.

27 posted on 10/13/2011 11:53:45 AM PDT by Reeses
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To: Red Badger
I don't see any mention of how well this material withstands temperature extremes, but if it does well in both cold and hot ranges, it sounds like an excellent choice for spacecraft construction. Depending on how easy it is to manufacture and fabricate into usable forms, that is.

Of course, since our federal government prefers to spend our monetary resources on the welfare class, this might be a moot point in any case. I'd say private space ventures might have a go at it, but that is also prey to federal regulatory burdens, so that too may be a non-starter...

28 posted on 10/13/2011 11:59:49 AM PDT by Joe Brower (Sheep have three speeds: "graze", "stampede" and "cower".)
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To: ctdonath2; Lurker; Paradox; Red Badger
Thanks ya'all. I believe it was Heinlein's Friday where I read it. T'was a long time ago.

5.56mm

29 posted on 10/13/2011 12:04:59 PM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: Red Badger
The team was led by Stanford's Wendy L. Mao and her graduate student Yu Lin and includes Carnegie's Ho-kwang (Dave) Mao, Li Zhang, Paul Chow, Yuming Xiao, Maria Baldini, and Jinfu Shu.

Mao, Zhang, Chow, Xiao, Shu, and ... Maria Baldini? How did she sneak in there? But seriously, can't China get their own chinese scientists to come up with some ideas so they don't need to steal technology secrets from our chinese scientists all the time?

30 posted on 10/13/2011 12:28:56 PM PDT by pepsi_junkie (Who is John Galt?)
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To: Jonty30
Thermal properties:

The material can be taken to 2500°C (4500°F) depending on grade, without any significant devitrification. Above that temperature some devitrification will occur and there will be a nucleation and growth of a graphite phase.

Note: that the SPI Glas glassy carbon products can be heated in air up to 500°C (900°F) without undergoing any reaction. Above this temperature any heating should be done strictly either under vacuum or in an environment of argon.

You may wish to sleeve the cylinder but that is OK.

31 posted on 10/13/2011 1:00:20 PM PDT by Aevery_Freeman (The road to hell is paved with plastic.)
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To: douginthearmy
Unless you consider a crushing tax load that forced both parents to work. That's why the schools are filled with second and third generation welfare recipients.

Although we should probably kill the guy that invented ortho novum (joke!).

32 posted on 10/13/2011 1:05:21 PM PDT by Aevery_Freeman (The road to hell is paved with plastic.)
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To: reg45
That was it, the engineers used a diamond cable to do it. Theoretically, they could use graphene ribbons to do it in real life, so he was close.

This stuff reminded me of the diamond cable in the story.

33 posted on 10/13/2011 1:12:02 PM PDT by Paradox (The rich SHOULD be paying more taxes, and they WOULD, if they could make more money.)
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To: Soothesayer9

Wendy Mao is an American. She is not a Chi-Com. It is not EPA regulations that keeps white Americans from pursuing math and science. It is a culture of doing what feels good at the moment.


34 posted on 10/13/2011 1:17:24 PM PDT by douginthearmy
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To: pepsi_junkie

Our Chinese American scientists have both freedom and rule of law. These factors are what have taken America from a tiny farming colony to history’s greatest superpower. Chi-Coms can only copy us, because while they can learn, they are not free. Of course, the more free they get and the less free we get, we could certainly see the trend change in the future.


35 posted on 10/13/2011 1:28:17 PM PDT by douginthearmy
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To: M Kehoe

+1 for the space elevator

The counter weight has to be higher than geosynchronous, 24,000 miles, so it’s either high earth orbit or nothing.


36 posted on 10/13/2011 1:28:45 PM PDT by dangerdoc (see post #6)
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To: Red Badger

“But how ya gonna machine it??????...........”

LASER beams baby!


37 posted on 10/13/2011 1:39:59 PM PDT by dangerdoc (see post #6)
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38 posted on 10/13/2011 1:52:38 PM PDT by TheOldLady (FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list)
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To: Aevery_Freeman

Depending on how can be manufactured and if it can be shaped, it may be able to replace steel.

You could be looking at bridges or diamond structure, instead of steel for sky scrapers.


39 posted on 10/13/2011 2:05:45 PM PDT by Jonty30
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To: dangerdoc
The counter weight has to be higher than geosynchronous, 24,000 miles, so it’s either high earth orbit or nothing.

Could there be a second floor?

8^)

5.56mm

40 posted on 10/13/2011 2:06:07 PM PDT by M Kehoe
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