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posted by takyon on Monday December 09 2019, @10:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the cryszilla dept.

A Tech Jewel: Converting Graphene Into Diamond Film:

Can two layers of the "king of the wonder materials," i.e. graphene, be linked and converted to the thinnest diamond-like material, the "king of the crystals"? Researchers of the Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM) within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, South Korea) have reported in Nature Nanotechnology the first experimental observation of a chemically induced conversion of large-area bilayer graphene to the thinnest possible diamond-like material, under moderate pressure and temperature conditions. This flexible, strong material is a wide-band gap semiconductor, and thus has potential for industrial applications in nano-optics, nanoelectronics, and can serve as a promising platform for micro- and nano-electromechanical systems.

Diamond, pencil lead, and graphene are made by the same building blocks: carbon atoms (C). Yet, it is the bonds' configuration between these atoms that makes all the difference. In a diamond, the carbon atoms are strongly bonded in all directions and create an extremely hard material with extraordinary electrical, thermal, optical and chemical properties. In pencil lead, carbon atoms are arranged as a pile of sheets and each sheet is graphene. Strong carbon-carbon (C-C) bonds make up graphene, but weak bonds between the sheets are easily broken and in part explain why the pencil lead is soft. Creating interlayer bonding between graphene layers forms a 2D material, similar to thin diamond films, known as diamane, with many superior characteristics.

[...] The team devised a new strategy to promote the formation of diamane, by exposing bilayer graphene to fluorine (F), instead of hydrogen. They used vapors of xenon difluoride (XeF2) as the source of F, and no high pressure was needed. The result is an ultra-thin diamond-like material, namely fluorinated diamond monolayer: F-diamane, with interlayer bonds and F outside.

[...] "This simple fluorination method works at near-room temperature and under low pressure without the use of plasma or any gas activation mechanisms, hence reduces the possibility of creating defects," points out Pavel V. Bakharev, the first author and co-corresponding author.

Journal Reference:
Pavel V. Bakharev, et. al. Chemically induced transformation of chemical vapour deposition grown bilayer graphene into fluorinated single-layer diamond. Nature Nanotechnology, 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s41565-019-0582-z


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  • (Score: 2) by legont on Monday December 09 2019, @10:57PM

    by legont (4179) on Monday December 09 2019, @10:57PM (#930304)

    Looks like they continue to lead the field while switching from West to East. Interesting to see Putin's policy in action.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Tuesday December 10 2019, @01:06AM (5 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 10 2019, @01:06AM (#930394) Journal

    From TFA

    For example, the interlayer space between two graphene sheets is 3.34 angstroms, but is reduced to 1.93-2.18 angstroms when the interlayer bonds are formed, as also predicted by the theoretical studies.

    There's also a diagram there suggesting that the intra-layer distances between carbon atoms are shortened too (indicating a potentially stronger C-C bond).

    Because if the tensile strength is higher than graphene one's, we may step from the "barely possible" into the realm of "definitely" for the space elevator.

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    • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday December 10 2019, @01:35AM (4 children)

      by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 10 2019, @01:35AM (#930403) Journal

      Only if you can generate this as extremely long threads which can be turned into cords longer and stronger than the threads. And just consider the problem of splicing two of those cords together without losing strength...which you'll definitely need to do unless you plan on welding the individual threads together as you weave the cable while putting it into position.

      And you wouldn't need that for a cable from orbit to lunar surface. Kevlar is strong enough, though I don't know if it's resistant enough to vacuum and UV. Mars is more problematical, but I think we've already got materials that are good enough, if there were enough traffic to justify it.

      But Earth....you'd need to show me evidence. This lab report is interesting, but more on the line of transistors than cables.

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      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday December 10 2019, @03:25AM (3 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 10 2019, @03:25AM (#930449) Journal

        Only if you can generate this as extremely long threads which can be turned into cords longer and stronger than the threads

        Not such a far jump in technology - can be done at meter-scale lengths for graphene [pku.edu.cn]. Including the splicing

        (3) seamless merging of such graphene islands into a graphene film with high single crystallinity

        Ummm... at least the Chinese can do it, that is.

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        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday December 10 2019, @04:07AM (2 children)

          by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 10 2019, @04:07AM (#930455) Journal

          I think you are overreading into the report. The scale they are doing this at is so from from threads that are kilometers long that it isn't funny.

          But transistors that you can create in place on a graphene substrate might be extremely interesting.

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          • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday December 10 2019, @05:17AM (1 child)

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 10 2019, @05:17AM (#930466) Journal

            The scale they are doing this at is so from from threads that are kilometers long that it isn't funny.

            It has been shown as not impossible, ain't it?
            Yes, yes, I know, it means 25+ years [xkcd.com] (grin)

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            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
            • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday December 10 2019, @04:48PM

              by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 10 2019, @04:48PM (#930640) Journal

              The thing is, you need to look at shorter term applications, or it will never be developed. If you head directly for that "application that's possible with 25 years of development", you'll never get there. Head for near term applications and the development may get you to the 25+ year goal, or to somewhere else you haven't even thought of yet. Star Trek tricorders are (were?) a lot bulkier than my cell phone. True, they were more capable in some ways, but cell phones are being developed into medical instruments, where the medical instruments show no sign of being developed into tricorders.

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              Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
  • (Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Tuesday December 10 2019, @09:03AM

    by Rivenaleem (3400) on Tuesday December 10 2019, @09:03AM (#930495)

    When can I coat my car with it?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 10 2019, @09:38AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 10 2019, @09:38AM (#930498)

    Permanently.
    Not for the first time either.

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