X-ray beams change graphite into diamond and back again.(Materials Science/R&D)

Advanced Materials & Processes,  February, 2004  

Tags: Argonne National Laboratory, diamond, Diamond

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High-brilliance X-ray beams from the Advanced Photon Source (APS) have reportedly enabled researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Ill, to convert graphite to a carbon form as hard as diamond. They discovered that, under extreme pressure, graphite--among the softest of materials--becomes as hard as diamond, the hardest known material.

What's more, the new super-hard material can be induced to return to its previous soft state. Graphite is made of layers of loosely bound carbon atoms that are spaced far apart. Because the carbon atoms are not tightly bound to each ...

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