This lab-grown Chinese diamond cannot be broken
What's the story
Chinese scientists have developed an "unbreakable" diamond, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Synthesis. The new material is said to be even tougher than tungsten alloys used in armor-piercing ammunition. This breakthrough was achieved by a team from the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beihang University.
Innovation
Diamonds are hard but brittle
Diamonds, while being the hardest natural material on Earth, are also extremely brittle. A sharp blow can easily shatter them.
For years, scientists have tried to make diamonds tougher without losing their legendary hardness.
The Chinese team overcame this limitation by building an internal support structure that boosts a diamond's toughness by six times while leaving its hardness unchanged.
Material
Breakthrough involves multi-walled carbon nanotubes
The secret to this breakthrough lies in multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT).
These ultra-strong carbon fiber "cords" are incredibly thin, about one 10,000th of the width of a human hair.
Despite their small size, they are dozens of times stronger than steel.
This unique property makes them an ideal candidate for enhancing the toughness of diamonds without compromising their hardness.