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Making diamonds in nature takes an extremely long time, on the order of billions of years, under enormous amounts of pressure and extremely high temperatures. A group of researchers from Australian National University and RMIT University made two types of diamonds at room temperature. One of the diamonds the team created is the typical type of diamond found in rings and the other diamond is called Lonsdaleite.
Lonsdaleite occurs naturally in meteorite impact sites such as Canyon Diablo in the United States. The creation of diamonds in nature is typically performed in the depths of the Earth at a depth of about 150 kilometers, where the pressure is high enough and temperatures are above 1000 degrees Celsius. The researcher’s unexpected discovery shows that both types of diamonds can form at room temperature under high pressure.
The pressure the team used to create diamonds was equivalent to 640 African elephants standing on the toe of a dance shoe. The team says that at high pressures, carbon experiences something called “shear,” which is a twisting or sliding force. They believe the cut allows the carbon atoms to move into position and form a regular diamond or Lonsdaleite.
Advanced electron microscope techniques allowed the researchers to capture solid, intact slices from experimental samples by creating snapshots of how the two types of diamonds are formed. Normal diamonds only form in the middle of Lonsdaleite veins using the team’s new method.
Lonsdaleite is expected to be 58% harder than normal diamond, thanks to a different crystal structure. This type of diamond has the potential to be used to cut ultra-solid materials in mining sites. Lonsdaleitis is rare and very useful. Creating more is the long-term goal of research.
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