Chinese researchers have successfully synthesized a rare form of diamond, known as hexagonal diamond or lonsdaleite, previously found only in meteorites, marking a major breakthrough in the development of super hard materials.

According to Chinese media reports, the achievement was detailed in a study published Wednesday in Nature by scientists from the Centre for High-Pressure Science & Technology Advanced Research. They transformed high-purity natural graphite single crystals into hexagonal diamonds under precisely controlled high-temperature, high-pressure, and quasi-hydrostatic conditions.

Hexagonal diamonds are believed to be harder than conventional cubic diamonds found on Earth, which have structural weaknesses due to slippage along certain planes. Lonsdaleites possess a more robust atomic arrangement, but past laboratory attempts often yielded ordinary diamonds instead.

The breakthrough was achieved using in-situ X-ray monitoring to observe structural changes during synthesis, enabling the creation of highly ordered, micrometer-sized hexagonal diamond samples.

Science and local sleuthing uncover 250-year-old Shipwreck on Scottish Island

Lead researcher Yang Liuxiang said the method overcomes long-standing challenges in diamond synthesis and lays a foundation for future innovation in material science. Ho-kwang Mao, a renowned high-pressure science expert and foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, described it as a “new pathway” for developing next-generation super hard materials and advanced electronic devices.

The lab-grown hexagonal diamonds, currently produced at a hundred-micron scale, could redefine industrial applications requiring extreme durability and potentially outperform traditional diamonds in both mechanical and electronic uses.

Source: NDTV