Nyhed
Nanodiamond-graphene breakthrough is good news for the industry
Lagt online: 20.01.2023
Nyhed
Nanodiamond-graphene breakthrough is good news for the industry
Lagt online: 20.01.2023
A material that can conduct electricity and endure hard pressure, wear and tear. These are the qualities of a new nanodiamond-graphene composite recently developed by the scientists from Yanshan University, Tsinghua University and Aalborg University. The research team was led by Professors Yongjun Tian, Zhisheng Zhao, Xiaoyan Li from China, and Professor Yuanzheng Yue from Aalborg University.
This original work has been published in the highly acclaimed research journal Nature Materials. The newly discovered material is a combination of nanodiamonds and disordered graphene, that can break the limits of other existing materials.
What are nanodiamonds and graphene?
- Nanodiamonds are particles that are less than 100 nanometres in diameter.
- They can be produced through high pressure, high temperature synthesis, detonation synthesis, and laser ablation.
- Like diamond graphene is a form of carbon. Graphene consists of a single layer of atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice nanostructure. The name graphene is derived from "graphite".
A shortcoming for traditional ceramics or metal is that they cannot simultaneously be ultra-strong and effectively transmit an electric current. But with the new composite it will be possible to build for example conductive ultrahard molds and static free bearings resistant to the wear of time and intense pressure.
Carbon can take many forms, for example, graphite, diamond, and graphene, each of which has different physical properties. The different carbon forms provide versatility for tuning and developing mechanical and electrical properties.
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With the new material it will be possible to build for example conductive ultrahard molds and static free bearings resistant to the wear of time and intense pressure.
Seeking new materials constructed from different forms of carbon with each their superior properties, has always been a frontier scientific endeavour. The new significant advance was achieved by precisely controlling the extent of transformation of amorphous carbon into diamond within a narrow temperature-pressure range.
Who is Yuanzheng Yue?
- Professor Yuanzheng Yue is a co-corresponding author of the new article in Nature Materials. He has worked 24 years at Aalborg University.
- Yue leads the research group Functional Amorphous Materials at Department of Chemistry & Bioscience – The department has one of the world’s leading communities for research into glass and disordered materials.
- He is a leading scientist in glass science and glass fiber technology.
- He is one of main inventors of the Metal-Organic Framework glasses and a fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and Royal Society of Chemistry.
Creating the Breakthorugh Material
The molecular dynamics simulations revealed that amorphous carbon transforms into diamond through a nucleation process via a local rearrangement of carbon atoms and diffusion-driven growth. In other words, such transformation occurs in a diffusion dominated process, being contrast to the martensitic transformation of graphite into diamond. The intermediate hybridization state at the interfaces provided insight into the amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition of carbon.
The nanodiamond covalently linked with matrix makes the composite ultrastrong and superhard, while the continuous multilayer graphene matrix enables the composite to be electrically conductive.
Consequently, this new type of composite is superior to the conductive ceramics and carbon-carbon composites known to date. This kind of composite has a great potential to be applied as an ultra-strong conductive indenter in the field of micro/nano mechanics, conductive ultrahard mold, static free and wear resistant bearings, and antistatic substrates/components.
Read more in Nature Materials: Ultrastrong Conductive in Situ Composite Composed of Nanodiamond Incoherently Embedded in Disordered Multilayer Graphene.
Authors of the research article are Professor Yongjun Tian and Professor Zhisheng Zhao from Yanshan University (China), Professor Xiaoyan Li from Tsinghua University (China), and Professor Yuanzheng Yue from Aalborg University.