How mimicking asteroid collisions can make diamonds in minutes

In nature, diamonds form deep in the Earth over billions of years. This process requires environments with exceptionally high pressure and temperatures exceeding 1,000℃. Our international team has created two different types of diamond at room temperature — and in a matter of minutes. It’s the first time diamonds have successfully been produced in a lab without added heat. Our findings are published in the journal Small. There’s more than one form of diamond Carbon atoms can bond together in a number of ways to form different materials including soft black graphite and hard transparent diamond. There are many well-known…

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