Comparable to diamond, scientists synthesize hard substances with high energy density

CTOnews.com, December 14 (Xinhua) an international team led by the Center for extreme conditional Science at the University of Edinburgh has synthesized carbon and nitrogen precursors to produce carbon, nitrogen and iron, which is tougher than existing cubic boron-nickel iron (second only to diamond in hardness).

Scientists recognized the potential of carbon-nitrogen iron as early as the 1980s and found that it has many excellent properties such as high heat resistance, but the manufacture of these materials is another matter. So far, there have been few successful studies on synthesis.

Scientists put different forms of carbon and nitrogen precursors under pressure of 70,135GPA (1 million times atmospheric pressure) and heated to 1500 °C (2732F) to achieve this feat.

The analysis showed that the three synthetic carbon nitride compounds had the structure needed for breakthrough superhard materials, and scientists were pleasantly surprised to find that the three compounds retained their superhard properties after cooling and returning to ambient pressure.

The team believes the breakthrough paves the way for a variety of applications, including protective coatings for vehicles and spacecraft, powerful cutting tools and photodetectors.

CTOnews.com attached the reference address of the paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202308030.