Engineers have discovered a new method for almost instantaneous conversion of carbon into diamond or graphene
A research team at Rice University has created a completely new method of converting carbon from a wide variety of sources into quite useful forms like graphene and even diamond.
The new method uses a so-called "flash" of electricity, which heats carbon almost instantly and transforms it into its final form, which directly depends on the length of the "flash".
A new method for producing graphene and diamond
The method used to produce graphene and even diamond is known as Instant Joule Heating (FJH) and was first described by a team of scientists in January 2020.
So, according to the described method, an electric current is passed through carbon-containing materials, while heating them to a temperature of 2727 degrees Celsius (4940 degrees Fahrenheit). This strong heating converts carbon into pristine tubular graphene flakes.
In the last experiment, the research team went further and improved this process, and the output received other materials.
So initially the length of the "flash" was equal to 10 milliseconds, but experiments with changing the length of this flash in the range from 10 to 500 milliseconds showed that as a result different forms can be obtained from carbon, including nanodiamonds, as well as "concentric" carbon, in which a carbon atom is enveloped around a nucleus from nanodiamond.
Scientists also managed to significantly speed up this process by adding components such as various fluorine compounds and a precursor to the initial mixture.
Thus, previous studies have shown that due to the addition of fluorine, a more durable adhesion of carbon atoms occurs, which makes it possible to obtain nanodiamonds without creating tremendous pressure.
According to the authors of the study, their FJH technology will allow the creation of new forms of carbon on an almost industrial scale, which was previously extremely difficult to achieve.
For example, nanodiamonds, which are quite in demand in various components of electronics, have a rather complex production algorithm, since a separate alloying process is required. And the FJH method greatly simplifies their obtaining.
In addition, the industry consumes quite a large amount of small diamonds in the components of cutting tools, as well as in the role of electrical insulators.
And the production of a fluorinated version of nanodiamonds makes it possible to modify these structures and provide an inexpensive and, most importantly, efficient technology.
The scientists shared the results of the work done on the pages of the ACS Nano Internet portal.
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