Chinese scientists develop world’s toughest glass, as hard as diamonds

Chinese scientists have developed the hardest and strongest glassy material known to date, capable of easily scratching diamond crystals.

The researchers, including those at Yanshan University in China, noted that the new material – tentatively named AM-III – has “exceptional” mechanical and electronic properties and could find applications in solar cells due to its “ultra-high” strength and wear. resistance.

Analysis of the material, published in the National Science Review, found that its hardness reached 113 gigapascals (GPa) while natural diamond stone typically scores 50 to 70 on the same test.

“Therefore, our measurements demonstrate that the AM-III material is comparable in resistance to diamond and superior to the other strongest materials known,” noted the scientists in the study.

According to scientists, AM-III has adjustable energy absorption properties comparable to semiconductors commonly used in solar cells, such as hydrogenated amorphous silicon films.

While in diamond crystals the organized internal structure of its atoms and molecules contributes to their immense strength and hardness, in AM-III researchers found that a combination of order and disorder of its molecules gives rise to its strange properties.

Using fullerenes, which are materials made of hollow arrangements of carbon atoms resembling a soccer ball, the researchers produced different types of glassy materials with varying molecular organization among which AM-III had the order le higher of atoms and molecules.

To achieve this order of molecules, the scientists crushed and mixed the fullerenes together, gradually applying intense heat and pressure of about 25 GPa and 1200 degrees Celsius in an experimental chamber for about 12 hours, spending a time equal to cool the material.

Scientists observed that increasing order could potentially kill semiconductivity and other properties that required atoms and molecules to be chaotic.

“The emergence of this type of ultra-hard, ultra-tough, semiconductor amorphous material offers excellent candidates for [the] most demanding practical applications, ”the researchers wrote in the study.