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Title: Nanocrystalline hexagonal diamond formed from glassy carbon

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep37232· OSTI ID:1334487
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. The Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia)
  2. RMIT Univ., Melbourne, VIC (Australia)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  4. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, D.C. (United States)
  5. The Univ. of Sydney, NSW (Australia)

Carbon exhibits a large number of allotropes and its phase behaviour is still subject to signifcant uncertainty and intensive research. The hexagonal form of diamond, also known as lonsdaleite, was discovered in the Canyon Diablo meteorite where its formation was attributed to the extreme conditions experienced during the impact. However, it has recently been claimed that lonsdaleite does not exist as a well-defned material but is instead defective cubic diamond formed under high pressure and high temperature conditions. Here we report the synthesis of almost pure lonsdaleite in a diamond anvil cell at 100GPa and 400 C. The nanocrystalline material was recovered at ambient and analysed using difraction and high resolution electron microscopy. We propose that the transformation is the result of intense radial plastic fow under compression in the diamond anvil cell, which lowers the energy barrier by locking in favourable stackings of graphene sheets. This strain induced transformation of the graphitic planes of the precursor to hexagonal diamond is supported by frst principles calculations of transformation pathways and explains why the new phase is found in an annular region. Furthermore, our findings establish that high purity lonsdaleite is readily formed under strain and hence does not require meteoritic impacts.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Energy Frontier Research in Extreme Environments (EFree)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; SC0001057
OSTI ID:
1334487
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 6; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 57 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (13)

Theoretical Investigation of Phase Transitions of Graphite and Cubic 3C Diamond Into Hexagonal 2H Diamond Under High Pressures journal February 2019
Predicting superhard materials via a machine learning informed evolutionary structure search journal September 2019
Quantifying hexagonal stacking in diamond journal July 2019
Structural studies of carbons by neutron and x-ray scattering journal November 2018
Understanding shear-induced s p 2 -to- s p 3 phase transitions in glassy carbon at low pressure using first-principles calculations journal July 2018
In situ analysis of the structural transformation of glassy carbon under compression at room temperature journal January 2019
Graphitization of Glassy Carbon after Compression at Room Temperature journal May 2018
Smooth Flow in Diamond: Atomistic Ductility and Electronic Conductivity journal November 2019
Analysis of stacking disorder in ice I using pair distribution functions journal July 2018
Transformation of shock-compressed graphite to hexagonal diamond in nanoseconds journal October 2017
Ideal and real structures of different forms of carbon, with some remarks on their geological significance journal October 2018
Predicting Superhard Materials via a Machine Learning Informed Evolutionary Structure Search preprint January 2019
Evaluating the Friction of Rotary Joints in Molecular Machines text January 2017

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