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Diamond is extremely strong owing to its crystal structure, known as diamond cubic, in which each carbon atom has four neighbors covalently bonded to it. Bulk cubic boron nitride (c-BN) is nearly as hard as diamond. Diamond reacts with some materials, such as steel, and c-BN wears less when cutting or abrading such material. [4]
Main diamond producing countries. Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic.Diamond as a form of carbon is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insoluble in water.
This was long believed to refer to diamond, but is now thought more likely to mean other hard minerals such as corundum or spinel. [b] Diamonds eventually spread throughout the world, even though India had remained the only major source of the gemstone until diamonds were discovered in Brazil in 1725. [10]
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Diamond is the ultimate abrasive, but graphite is soft and is a very good lubricant. Diamond is an excellent electrical insulator, but graphite is an excellent conductor. Diamond is an excellent thermal conductor, but some forms of graphite are used for thermal insulation (for example heat shields and firebreaks).
In 2001, a diamond-like-structured c-BC 2 N was synthesized at pressures >18 GPa and temperatures >2,200 K by a direct solid-state phase transition of graphite-like (BN) 0.48 C 0.52. The reported Vickers and Knoop hardnesses were intermediate between diamond and c-BN, making the new phase the second hardest known material. [39]
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Diamond (Mohs 10) is 1500 (off scale). Diamond was the hardest known naturally occurring mineral when the scale was designed, and defines the top of the scale, arbitrarily set at 10. The hardness of a material is measured against the scale by finding the hardest material that the given material can scratch, or the softest material that can ...