Second hardest material

2002/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Materialak

As is known, diamond is the hardest known material. However, researchers try to get even harder materials. Although they have not yet managed to overcome the diamond, the American laboratory Los Alamos has presented the second material, boron cubic nitride.

For this purpose they have dissolved pure boron in molten boron oxide at temperatures above 2,000 °C and subsequently compressed it at a pressure 5,000 times higher than atmospheric. This is a relatively inexpensive method, so researchers believe that in many applications boron cubic nitride will replace diamond.