Carbon is the foremost fascinating elements in all of nature, with chemical and physical properties unlike the other elements. With just six protons in its nucleus, it’s the most abundant element capable of forming a slew of complex bonds. All known sorts of life are carbon-based, as its atomic properties enable it to meet up with up to four other atoms at a time. The possible geometries of these bonds also enable carbon to self-assemble, particularly under high pressures, into a stable space lattice. If the conditions are favourable, carbon atoms can form a solid, ultra-hard structure which we all call as diamonds!
Perhaps you have been taught that diamond is the hardest natural substance on Earth. Well, that's only true for certain extent. While there are few substances harder than diamonds, today we will find which one is the hardest and strongest.
To start off with, do you remember another fact from your school days that 'spider silk is stronger than steel'. On the biological side, spider silk is notorious as the toughest. With a higher strength-to-weight ratio than most conventional materials like aluminum or steel, it’s also remarkable for how thin and sticky it is. But can it beat diamonds! Well, not exactly. The only silk that comes close to diamonds is Darwin's Bark Spider Silk. It is the toughest silk ever known.
Instead of carbon, you can make a crystal out of a number of other atoms or compounds, and one of them is boron nitride made from Boron and Nitrogen. Although Boron nitride isn't tougher than diamonds, if it is formed in a cubic or wurtzite form, it beats diamonds. Yes! Wurtzite Boron Nitride is tougher than diamonds.
Well, carbon is not only present on Earth. It is also present on comets and meteorites. When such carbon containing celestial body hits the earth, its surface burns and its internal pressure goes so high that it forms a hexagonal lattice instead of a cubic lattice present in diamonds. This makes that substance 58% stronger than diamonds. This is called as Lonsdaleite. While real examples of Lonsdaleite contain sufficient impurities to make them softer than diamonds, an impurity-free graphite meteorite striking the Earth would undoubtedly produce material harder than any terrestrial diamond. Well, you might think, we got the answer, but this is not even close to the strongest material.
Although there are many synthetic substances harder than diamonds like Buckypaper, Dyneema, Palladium microalloy glass, etc., I am more concerned with the natural ones.
So here's it: Graphene, the strongest material on Earth. A hexagonal carbon lattice that’s only a single atom thick. That’s what a sheet of graphene is, arguably the most revolutionary material to be developed and utilized in the 21st century. It is the basic structural element of carbon nanotubes themselves, and applications are growing continuously. Currently a multimillion dollar industry, graphene is expected to grow into a multibillion dollar industry in mere decades. In proportion to its thickness, it is the strongest material known, is an extraordinary conductor of both heat and electricity, and is nearly 100% transparent to light.
Fun Fact: Any synthetic material is not stronger than graphene! Graphene is the boss!
Well from where does this extraordinary and exceptional material come from? You guessed it right - Graphite. Graphite, a brittle substance is made up of many layers of graphene. But why is graphite weak? Well that's a story for another post!
It’s a wonderful thing to live in a civilization where diamonds are no longer the hardest known material; the scientific advances we make benefit society as a whole. As the 21st century unfolds, we’ll all get to see what suddenly becomes possible with these new materials.
Also drop a comment if you were surprised hearing this! And you are good to go!
Posts before October 2021 have been marked as "Old Posts". Less likely, but they might have out dated or incorrect information, ugly looking bits of code, no labels, etc. Don't get me wrong, many of these posts are top-notch and interesting too.
I thought it would be better not to delete or revamp these posts, even if they suck. The bitter truth is that old works always suck, but I take that as a positive tool to convey that I am growing. Besides there's no better way to showcase my journey without these old, messy, poorly written posts!
I thought it would be better not to delete or revamp these posts, even if they suck. The bitter truth is that old works always suck, but I take that as a positive tool to convey that I am growing. Besides there's no better way to showcase my journey without these old, messy, poorly written posts!
Old Post