Designing Superhard Materials

by Richard B. Kaner, John J. Gilman, & Sarah H. Tolbert Science, 27 May 2005 Kaner et al. describe recent efforts to make a material that matches or exceeds the hardness of diamond. Such a material must contain highly directional, short, and strong bonds. Hardness may also be increased by introducing a nanometer-scale structure that hinders the migration of dislocations. Despite all the scientific efforts to find a material that surpasses it, diamond remains the hardest known material. And hardness is not enough: To replace diamond in practical applications, a new superhard material must also match its other properties, such as chemical inertness. Read the article