A Yale University-led team of mineral physicists has, for the first time, confirmed through high-pressure experiments the structure of cold-compressed graphite, a form of carbon that is comparable in hardness to its cousin, diamond, but only requires pressure to synthesize. The researchers believe their findings could open the way for a super hard material that can withstand great force and can be used—as diamond-based materials are now—for many electronic and industrial applications. The study appears in Scientific Reports.
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