Researchers are on a quest to synthesize BC8, a carbon structure predicted to be tougher than diamond, using insights from advanced simulations and experimental efforts. This material, theoretically prevalent in the extreme pressures of exoplanets, remains a scientific mystery with promising applications in materials science.
Diamond is the strongest material known. However, another form of carbon has been predicted to be even tougher than diamond. The challenge is how to create it on Earth.
The eight-DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c03044
The first author of the paper, Kien Nguyen Cong, a former Ph.D. student with Oleynik, is now a postdoctoral researcher at LLNL. Coauthors are Jonathan Willman, Joseph Gonzalez and Ashley Williams at USF; Anatoly Belonoshko of the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology; Stan Moore, Aidan Thompson and Mitchell Wood at Sandia National Laboratories; and Luis Zepeda-Ruiz at LLNL. The work at USF, LLNL and Sandia is funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration.