The process is known and simple, although in general it takes a long time: When carbon is subjected to extreme heat and pressure inside the Earthcan be crystallized to form diamonds, the natural mineral of the planet.
But that is not the only way to obtain a diamond, it turns out that there is more than one way of making a diamond: the fall of a meteorite creates an impact of such violence and such temperature that, If there is “luck” and comes into contact with carbon, a diamond can also occur. And this is the hardest mineral on the planet: it can only be cut with another diamond.
But now a contender has emerged. Or two. The first is Wurtzita’s boron nitride, which has a diamond structure, but is formed by different atoms. The second, the LonsDaleíta or hexagonal diamond mineral, It is made of carbon atoms (such as diamond), but are arranged in a different way and sometimes forms when meteorites containing graphite impact the earth. For its part, Boro Wurtzita nitride is formed during volcanic eruptions that produce very high temperatures and pressures.
One of the problems facing scientists regarding these minerals is that there are only small amounts of Boro nitride from Wurtzita and Lonsdaleíta in nature, so until now no one had realized their superior resistance. The simulations made in these minerals showed that Boro Nituro Wurtzide would resist 18% more stress than diamond, while LonsDaleíta increases this to 58%.
But Wurtzita Boro Nitride has an advantage: it can be the most useful of the two, because it is stable in oxygen at temperatures higher than the diamond. This does Ideal to place it on the tips of cutting and drilling tools that operate at high temperaturesor as films resistant to corrosion on the surface of a space vehicle, for example.
Paradoxically, the hardness of Boro Wurtzita nituro seems to come from the flexibility of the links between the atoms that compose it. When the material is subjected to tension, Some links are reoriented about 90 degrees to relieve tension, as if it were able to twist Although the diamond suffers a similar process, something in the structure of Boro Wurtzita nitride makes it much more resistant.
For scientists, the more you understand what influences the hardness of materials, the more possible it will be to design more hardness materials. However, to demonstrate the theory, individual crystals of each material would be needed. So far no ways of isolating or growing such crystals of either materials are known.
“In addition to the notable mechanical properties that combine aspects of extreme compression resistance and traction resistance, We hope these materials show desirable electronic properties”, Indicate those responsible for the discovery of Boro Wurtzide nitride.