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Updated: Jun 11, 2025

Characterization of Ultra-fine Grained and Nanocrystalline Materials Using Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction
Published on: April 1, 2017
A superhard incompressible carbon allotrope with deformation-induced transformation to diamond
Lingyu Liu1, Linyan Wang2, Pan Ying3
1Key Laboratory of materials and surface technology (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xihua University, Chengdu 610039, Sichuan, China.
Abstract:
Recognizing the indispensability of hard materials in industrial applications, the persistent pursuit of ultra-strong and superhard materials has been a subject of extensive research. Carbon, with its versatile hybridization possibilities, emerges as a promising avenue for the creation of such materials. Herein, based on first-principles calculations, we predict an all-sp 3 hybrid orthorhombic carbon allotrope named C10. It exhibits greater incompressibility along the [010] direction than diamond, demonstrating an extreme hardness with Vickers hardness of up to 72.8 GPa. The Young's modulus of C10 displays anisotropy, closely comparable to diamond along the x axis direction, while maintaining excellent mechanical stability within the range of 100 GPa. Notably, under the influence of shear force, it undergoes transformation into diamond. Functioning as a transparent semiconductor with a wide indirect band gap of 4.55 eV, C10 holds promise as a potential superhard material in the semiconductor industry, especially under extreme conditions.
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