New Form Of Carbon Is Harder Than Diamonds, And Glows
Microdiamonds An image of microdiamonds created using the same technique that researchers used to create Q-carbon. NC State University Diamonds might be forever, but they're no longer the hardest form of carbon on the planet. Sorry, diamonds. In a series of recently published papers, including a paper published this week in the Journal of Applied Physics, researchers from North Carolina State University announced that they have created a new form of carbon, called Q-carbon. Pure carbon (without additional elements, such as oxygen, mixed in) has a few distinct solid forms that it can take. The first is graphite, in which the carbon atoms line up to form thin sheets. Graphite is thin and flakey, used to make graphene and pencil lead. The other phase of carbon occurs...